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OUR WORK. 



OURW<hfig 



■BY- 



/ 

C B. WARD 



EIGHTEEN YEARS A METHODIST MISSIONARY IN INDIA 



'Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.'' — I Sam J; 12 



6\yj%-^ 



CHICAGO: 

E. J. DECKER COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 
1894. 



V 



/3> 63 



^ / 



Copyright 1894. 
By C. B. WARD. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BEGINNING. 

The origin of the mission. — First printed letter. — First ingathering.— 
My marriage. — My colleague's devotion. — Six ingatherings. — First effort 
to earn. — Helping others. — William Taylor's advice. — My fever. — Wil- 
liam Marrett's invitation. — How a guineaworm helped. — A great clean 
up. — My appointment. — The start. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE DOMESTIC PERIOD. 

A 200 mile orphan walk. — My beginning. — Our revival. — First bap- 
tisms. — First communion — Our position. — Conference. — Watchnight. — 
Mylarum work. — The first idea of East Indian orphan work — Our vil- 
lage and life. — Tank building. — First East Indian orphans — Miss Miller. 
— Investigated. — Albaka. — A pony. — William Marrett. — Ramswamy's 
feast. — A move. — Watchman. — Shorapore in the west. — Prayer remark- 
ably answered. 

CHAPTER III. 

ADVANCE STEPS. 

First outing. — D. O. Ernsberger. — F. J. Blewitt. — Days of faith trial 
— The lesson learned. — "Valley of Baca." — The magic lantern. — Miss 
O'Leary's sickness. — Blewitt and Co. at Pallur, — General Phayre's offer. 
— Bishop Foster appoints. — Money for tracts. 

CHAPTER IV. 

LARGE UNDERTAKINGS FOR GOD. 

Lingumpully trials. — Lanoli camp meeting. — Arnold Moore. — Miss 
H. Freer. — Experience learning Telugu. — Parting at Premoor. — Secun- 
derabad. — Holiness meeting. — Bazaar preaching. — MajorTucker — Fisrt 
convert. — A bazaar occurrence — Holiness tracts. — Conference. — Nursaya 
Naidu. — Sad days. — Two of God's noble women taken. — Nursaya's 
persecution — A second son. — The Nizam crowned. 

CHAPTER V. 

PIONEERING AND EARNING. 

Nursaya a preacher. — Contract work. — Half nights of prayer — Cane- 
rese werk. — A pioneer tour. — A five years report. — Trial ended. — Quar- 
terly Conference — My location — Misses Hillis and James — Farther con- 
tract work. — A plea for missions. — Smootz and I. — The cholera scourge 
and how it dodged us — A glance backward. 

CHAPTER VI. 

A STUPENDOUS EFFORT AND THE RESULTS. 

The great effort. — Apostacy. — On our feet again. — Miss Hillis. — Her 
work and sudden death. — Other things. — The end. 



CHAPTER VII. 

LAND AT LAST. 

A new start. — Land at last. — A special prayer and its answer. — An 
offer to the Bishop. — How I settled matters at last. — Our preachers — A 
pastor's report. — A mission house. — Reinforcements coming. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

HOME BUILDING AND VILLAGE RECONSTRUCTION. 

The mission buildings at last. — Reinforcements arrive. — The village. 
— Our District Conference. — The goddess Maisamma. — The liquor nuis- 
ance. — Rama's return from America. — His entrance upon the work in 
India. — Dr. A. G. Frazer's letter. — The work 

CHAPTER IX. 

OUR FORWARD MOVEMENT AND SATAN'S COUNTERPLOT, 

Hindoo temple illustrations. — Kois under the influence of liquor. — 
Preaching to our guides. — The top of Bastar mountain. — Washington's 
birthday. — A wedding scene. — Dantawarra and human sacrifice. — The 
Capital of Bastar. — Commissioner Frazer. — The order he gave. — Sir- 
oncha. — Satan's plot. — Our appeal as an American citizen. — The tank in 
danger. — Preachers for Sironcha. 

CHAPTER X. 

PREEMPTING OUR MISSION FIELD. 

Dr. Batstone and I on the march. — Jagdalpur. — Mission ground 
selected. — Dr. B. returns. — Getting workpeople. — Birthday. — My lonely 
camp— Northern Bastar — Rs 1000 — Opium. — Bastar's first missionaries. 
— Our mission field. — Six circuits. — The summary. — All about our mis- 
sion field — Social customs and religion. — Money matters. — Rs. 17,000 for 
Christmas.— M. E. hospital report.— W. F. M. S. to help us.— Third 
tour. — Stay in Sironcha — Miss Blackmar in Gangalur — Jagdalpur again. 
— Our pioneers there. — Hospital begun. — To Sukma and Mokpal — Koi 
language. — First Quarterly Conference in Bastar. — Our party divided .-- 
Home stretch — A trip to America.— The voyage. — New York.— The 
sixty days journey ended. — Story ends. 



PREFACE, 



The following pages do not purport to be an autobiog- 
raphy nor yet a work on India, her peoples or religion. It 
is rather in outline, the story of fifteen years of christian 
work in India, conducted in dependence upon God for 
both means and grace without any human guarantee of 
salary or support. 

The reason for its publication at this time arises from the 
numerous requests of friends for some account of the work 
we have been engaged in the past years of our residence 
in India. I have in the past published several partial 
reports of the work and our experience in it. All of these 
being exhausted, I have put together from sources at my 
command, the following pages, in the hope that Gol's 
blessing may make them a source of encouragement and in- 
spiration to other christian workers and believers. 

I was born March 23rd, 1853, in Kendall county, 111., 
the eldest of six brothers, while the* youngest in the family 
was an only sister. When I was about 4 years of age my 
parents settled in Cropsy, McLean county, 111., and here 
were spent my boyhood days in farm work during summer 
and attending the district school in winter. 

Our parents not being religious, dancing and novel read- 
ing were evils I easily unrestrained, fell deeply into. But 
for divine interposition I know not what these evil com- 
munications might have led me into. On the 15th day of 
November, 1869 I was converted to God in my father's 
corn field. The reading of Thomas Dick's Christian Phi- 
losopher had led on to deep conviction that I was in the 



io PREFACE. 

way utterly wrong. At about the same time a German 
Methodist, named John Straisser, now in heaven, began to 
follow me up, and, it seemed to me, he knew the state of 
my mind. I forsook novel reading and began to apply 
myself to something useful. Latterly I gave up dancing 
and my old companions. Brother John never let me go 
till he saw me soundly converted and a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. I began to teach school soon 
after this, and in the fall of 1870 I entered the Preparatory 
School of the Northwestern University at Evanston. Soon 
after my conversion a deep conviction seized me that I 
should become a missionary some day. This conviction 
came upon me while reading an appeal to christian young 
men and women of America, by Dr. Baldwin, at that time 
of the China Methodist Mission. The idea however, was 
apparently so preposterous, that I kept these convictions a 
secret for many a day. While teaching my first term, in 
my absence from home, my class voted me an Exhorter's 
license, which Rev. Matthew Evans soon after delivered 
me. When it came I thought it was a mistake. But ere 
long I was made a local preacher and the conviction that 
it was of God came home to me. I then began to prepare 
for a life of christian work. Being poor, I began in Evan- 
ston, sawing wood about two hours per day and all day 
Saturday. I was thus able to earn fully half my way for 
two years, after which, I taught again for six months and 
spliced out the rest of the year as township assessor and 
otherwise. During this year I preached in the school 
house where I taught and another a few miles away,, and 
conducted a Sunday School in each place. As a result a 
goodly number were converted or reclaimed and all from 
the two points united in one congregation, in Prairie 
Chapel, which was built at a cost of about $1,500, and ded- 
icated by Dr. Samuel Fallows, then President of Wesleyan 
University, Bloomington, 111., now a Bishop in the Re- 
formed Episcopalian Church. 



PREFACE. ii 

I returned to Evanston and completed the Preparatory 
course. Never can I forget Prof. Fisk. He left a mark 
on me in habits of study and reading and systematic work, 
worth more than much gold. Greek was my favorite 
study and for the post of honor I had but one successful 
contestant and she like myself was poor. During my last 
year at Evanston I found my way into Halsted St. Mission, 
Chicago. Here I met S. A. Kean, at that time of the 
banking firm of Preston, Kean & Co. Of my teachers in 
Evanston and faithful pastors of other places I learned 
much. But Brother Kean taught me how to work for the 
Master He w T as the first man I ever saw conducting an 
out-door meeting. Of him I learned how to follow boys 
and girls, men and women into their homes, shops, wood 
houses and saloons or take them on the wing, preach Jesus 
to them, sing with them, pray with them and lead them to 
the Savior. I value highly the education I received in 
Evanston, but the training I received in my two years in 
the Halsted Street Mission, has been of more value to me 
in India missionary work, than any other I ever had else- 
where. Had I my way I would see every young man and 
woman contemplating a life of missionary work, finish off 
with at least one year in city mission, or slum work. It is 
more like work in heathen lands than is otherwheres found 
in America. 

In the latter part of 1875 I met William Taylor, now 
Bishop of Africa and a third visit saw me booked for India 
sometime the following year. In January of 1870, when 
reading Dr. Baldwin's address I had gone up into my 
father's hay loft and promised the Lord that if ever an 
open door presented itself, I would enter it, in my Master's 
name. 

On my second visit to William Taylor at the M. E. 
Book Concern, Chicago, he made many inquiries as to my 
plans for the future. I told him frankly of my determina- 
tion to complete my education. He cut short our inter- 



12 PREFACE. 

view by saying: ' 'Brother Ward, go home and pray over 
the matter three days. If the Lord wants you to go to 
India, I would rather send you now than after you have 
spent six years more of the best part of your life in getting 
college stuffing after which you will have to learn your A. 
B. C. with any other barbarian boy out in India." With 
this he bade me good morning. I started over to, and 
down Madison street; when nearing the bridge the mem- 
ory of my hay loft consecration came to mind. I stopped 
stock still on the sidewalk, and a voice seemed to say tome: 
"Now will you stand by your promise?" It was a battle 
for a few moments. My Greek prospects came up before 
me, I could hear the encouragements of my teachers. But, 
" Now will you stand by your promise? "came louder and 
louder. I felt it was of God and I settled the matter right 
there, and said, "I will." I was filled with peace. Three 
days later I gave William Taylor my answer, and was booked 
for India the following September. I went on with my work 
at Halsted street the rest of the year. During the sum- 
mer of 1876 I visited every house in the mission district c 
Such sights and experiences. The poor and the wicked I 
saw there as never elsewhere in my life. I found within a 
little over a square mile of territory there 30,000 persons 
of a dozen nationalities and more religions. 

I bade all my people in Illinois farewell and left for the 
seaboard in the end of October, 1876. I met William Tay- 
lor in Philadelphia, saw the Centennial and sailed from 
New York, November 4th, 1876, enroute for India. Never 
can I forget that day. A large missionary company 
was on board. Many wiped tears away at the last sight 
of Sandy Hook. I felt like throwing up my hat and shout- 
ing hallelujah. To me there was a land of promise ahead. 
Here I must detail a little of my religious experience. 
Not long after my conversion, I was deeply pained over 
the discovery of "roots of bitterness" in my heart, though 
I could not discover any point at which I had backslidden. 



PREFACE. 13 

Anger sprang up betimes unbidden and then other things 
that gave me convincing proof that I was not ' ' cleansed 
from all unrighteousness " though I was sure I had received 
"the forgiveness of sins." A conviction . began early to 
grow upon me that I was in terrible danger of being be- 
trayed into sinful living again, unless I received cleansing 
from my "sin." I conversed with older christians. None 
seemed to be able to understand or give me help. 
Here and there in Adam Clarke's Commentaries and in 
other Methodist literature I found statements that seemed 
well sustained in the scriptures, to the effect that I might 
experience "entire sanctification " from all sin. Oh! how 
I sought it. How I groaned after it. How I afflicted my- 
self for it. But, alas, my tears, groans and prayers all 
fell short. I knew what it was to feel, "Oh! who shall 
deliver me from this dead body?" On reaching Evans- 
ton, I was mightily cheered to hear that Mrs. Bishop 
Hamline held a holiness meeting in her sick chamber 
weekly. I went, I listened, oh so hungry. But here 
satan again did me no little harm. An unworthy brother 
was there ever ready to witness to what most of us stu- 
dents knew he did not enjoy. Over him I stumbled and 
ceased attending those meetings. While in Halsted street 
work, while others said much good of my work I was con- 
scious that I was not "holy" and did not have abiding 
victory or communion in the Spirit. Oh ! how vivid is the 
memory of the struggle of those days. It came to me at 
last that it would be well for me to go to the frontier, 
where none knew me and make a new start for God and 
the Church, and I might do better. I was in this frame of 
mind when first I met William Taylor. When I started 
for India I thought of my new field as a land of promise of 
a better experience and more satisfactory communion with 
God. 

Thus was I buoyed up with hope till after we passed 
England and Gibralter. But as we neared the Suez 



i 4 PREFACE. 

Canal, the query came. u How do you know you will suc- 
ceed any better in India than you have hitherto done in 
America?" I was stunned, yes confounded by this query. 
But over and over it came, till in the agony of my soul, I 
cried out, " Lord I don't know. " Finally an awful feeling 
settled down upon me that as I was, the greatest failure of 
my life, awaited me in India. 

Two old missionaries, Drs. Scott and Johnson and cap- 
tain Oldham, daily conversed or argued on the theme of 
" Entire Sanctification." How I listened. But r_o help 
there. I read " Christian Perfection, "Love Enthroned" 
and other books and found no relief. Daily my bur- 
den grew. At last it seemed better for me to go to the 
bottom of the sea than to Bombay unsanctified. The dark- 
est hour came. December 10, 1876, just at the entrance 
of the Red Sea, about where old Pharaoh and his host 
went down, in my cabin I bowed before God determined 
never to leave that room till my soul was set at liberty. I 
began in great deliberation and detail to consecrate my- 
self, soul and body, and all I had or hoped for unre- 
servedly to God. In this holy exercise I was blessedly 
helped of God's Spirit and something seemed to say : ' ' This 
is the way." I continued thus till I could think of noth- 
ing more. I felt that I had done my part. As did Elijah, 
I lifted up my voice and began to cry for "the fire." "Send 
the sanctifying spirit," was my prayer. I was stopped by 
these words as though audibly spoken: "Receive ye the 
Holy Ghost." I could no longer pray, I was bidden to 
"Receive." Was it the word of God? For the moment I 
could not say; I opened my bible and there it was. " Re- 
ceive ye the Holy Ghost." In that glad moment I lifted 
up my head and said: "Lord, is this all?" "Then I do 
receive the Holy Ghost." Oh, how shall I tell the exper- 
ience of that moment and the days that followed. Quick 
as lightning my years of bondage to a polluted moral 
nature was ended. Just as glorious as had been my conver- 



PREFACE. 15 

sion, yea, more glorious, and real was the cleansing- of my 
heart from all sin by the blood of the everlasting covenant. 
India had no more terrors for me. I was more than a 
conqueror. Oh, how I praised God. I told my experi- 
ence and think other persons were sanctified, before we 
reached Bombay, December 24, 1876. 

I found myself appointed by Bishop Andrews to Bellary, 
about 500 miles south on the way to Madras, and in the 
very heart of the famine district. I went to Madras, met 
my Presiding Elder and many good people that had been 
saved through the good work inaugurated by William Tay- 
lor in India, and returned to my post January 2, 1877. 

It was the first work I had ever had independent charge 
of, and my trials in this new work, and a new land, were 
many and heavy. But my soul had wings. I was happy 
and many were converted. 

We had no church. But we built one. The congrega- 
tion was small, the Sunday School a good one and my help- 
ers were few and inexperienced. Here I met a Christian 
officer and family (Geo. Chooett,) whose practical friend- 
ship we have enjoyed all our years in India. When I met 
them first they were not Methodists, but later became such. 
For many days their house was our home. They have 
helped us much. Here I received my first lessons in Tel- 
ugu, from J. G. Firth, who though an old man to-day is 
the friend of every good work for God and man. My sec- 
ond year here, I traveled much up and down the railway 
line for 1,000 miles; many wicked men I met, many drunk- 
ards, some were saved. This was hard work but blessed. 
Many a time I have had to retire to some lonely wooded 
spot to pray for courage to go from house to house among 
men I knew cursed and swore, gambled, drank and ridi- 
culed religion. But I went, and the Lord blessed me. 

Three years I was in this English work in Bellary, and 
during my last year here, 1879, I found my way into the 
work my story tells of in the following pages. 



16 PREFACE. 

My marriage to Ellen M. Welch is referred to in the 
first chapter of the story. I found her at work in Halsted 
Street Mission, Chicago. She followed me to India in a 
little over two years and has been my helpmeet through all 
the 3^ears in India. 

God has given us six children. Our first, Charles 
Edward, born February 2, 1880. God took him in a little 
over 4 months. Then came the twins ; Wesley Asbury and 
William Taylor, born in Bangalore, in the house of our 
friends, D. H. and Ada Lee, December 15, 1881. They 
were called by many Caleb and Joshua. Brother Lee bap- 
tised them. January 18, 1884, came George Fletcher in 
Secundrabad and he was baptised by the venerable Dr. A. 
G. Frazer. Our first daughter was born in Secundrabad, 
January 14, 1886 and baptised Susana Ruth by our friend, 
Simon Peter Jacobs. Our last is Nellie Marion, born 
May 19th, 1889, and baptised by our dearly beloved Bishop 
Thoburn. 

I wish it were possible to mention the many dear friends 
God has raised up to us in this work. A Christian engi- 
neer, J. J. Tomlinson, has been the friend of the most 
years. If I mistake not, no month has passed for 1 2 years 
that a contribution has not come from his hand. Railway 
men, military officers, civilians, missionaries, poor people 
and even heathen men, have freely and unsolicited, given us 
and many of the Lord's people have helped us with 
their prayers and counsel. To me it is strange that one 
so little known should have been so largely trusted 
and freely helped in God's good work. It is only explain- 
able on the ground that God chooses the weak things of 
this world for the accomplishment of his grandest purposes. 
In the last four years, two brethren of the Transit and 
Building Fund Society, (William Taylor's) have been led to 
help us secure property to the extent of $18,000, or in 
Nizam's Rupees about 7 1 , 000. But the Lord has never suf- 
fered our work to fall wholly upon these friends. Other 



PREFACE. 17 

christian friends, with our own earnings have entirely sup- 
ported the mission, orphans, workers and missionaries. 

It is the purpose and faith of myself and our friends to 
develop a productive property in India that will, say in 
five years, entirely support the mission, in any locality 
where we start. God has blessed our efforts so far, richly. 
But much hard work is yet to be done, before the half mil- 
lion souls to whom we and our helpers are the missionaries 
are evangelized. 

When God sanctified my soul on my way to India he 
gave me his secret. And in the years since, that memor- 
able 10th of December, 1876, as I have walked 'with God, 
blood-washed and filled with the Spirit, I haye been blessed 
and my work has been successful financially and spiritually. 
In my experience, in no small measure I see the secret of 
my good health and strength to toil almost day and night 
in India for eighteen years without a rest, except one day a 
week. 

I have attempted little in the way of a description of 
India or her people. This has been well done by many 
abler hands. What I have written is an imperfect story 
of our fifteen years of christian work. 




The Pioneers. 



OUR WORK 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BEGINNING, 1879. 

The Telugu Mission had its origin in a prayer meeting 
attended by two persons, at the home of one at Gulburga, 
February 22, 1879. The one party was the pastor of the 
Methodist Church in Bellary, and the other an assistant 
engineer in the Nizam's Department of Public Works, 
then resident in the station. The pastor was C. B. Ward 
and the engineer A. C. Davis, Esq. 

The great famine of 1876 to 1878, in which five millionL 
of human beings perished of hunger and its consequent 
diseases, had closed. Copious rains had fallen, but as yet 
no crops had been harvested; and famine prices, famine 
want, famine diseases, famine poverty, and helpless famine 
sufferers abounded. On the understanding that "famine 
was over," government relief camps had all been closed 
except here and there one kept up simply as a hospital. 
The consequence was, thousands were yet left to suffer 
and die for want of food, medicine and care. In Gul- 
burga, where famine camps were still in order, a few resi- 
dents of the station united to open and carry on a small 
private charity for the benefit of orphans, and in some 
cases destitute children with their mothers. 

The Sudder Taluqdar, Mr. McFarlane, Executive 
Engineer, and Mr. A. C. Davis, J. J. Ottley, and C. Dun. 
hill, assistant Engineers of the D. P. W., J. J. Wright, 

19 



2o OUR WORK. 

Station Master, and some others, were liberal and active 
in this good work, as were the wives of some of the above 
named. The time had now come when these friends 
thought there was no longer any necessity for the continu- 
ance of their "poor house," as they styled it. There were 
however, a few children left in the "poor house" who had 
no known parents or relatives. After a few had been 
taken, five remained for some friend to take. The local 
Committee dissolved itself, and A. C. Davis took the five 
remaining children — four boys and one girl to rear for 
God. In the course of my work as a Methodist preacher, 
I chanced to be in Bro. Davis' house the night of February 
2 1 st, 1879. In the course of the evening Bro. Davis nar- 
rated to me the history of the "poor house," and wound 
up with saying he had taken the remaining five children. 
I innocently asked him what he intended doing with them. 
He said he intended training them for the work of the 
Lord. If, after they were grown he found them fit for 
the work, he meant that they should accompany him as he 
moved about at his work, and that they should preach the 
gospel to their heathen countrymen. 

The idea of rearing these boys and girls for God went 
through my soul as a revelation from heaven. As I 
remember, I said little, if anything, at the time. I retired, 
but not to sleep for hours. There passed before my eyes 
the haggard, bony, starving form of hundreds of poor 
children I saw again and again at the various stations 
along a thousand miles of railway, I was accustomed to 
travel frequently. The possibility of saving any number 
of these little ones for God and his work. Was it possible? 
Was it not possible? I had passed over two years at Bel- 
lary in the height of the famine; had seen the bones of 
thousands at Avama's Tope and Adoni ; had seen the dead 
and dying in and by the road with never a thought that I 
could do anything till my eyes became used to sights that 
ordinarily would have made me sick. But in those waking 



OUR WORK. 21 

hours God called me to cast in my lot with Bro. Davis, 
and endeavor to do what could be done in the line of this 
undertaking with the remnant from the "poor house." When 
I came to conference in December, 1878, I had asked an 
appointment to native work, but was halted by the query, 
"Where will you get your support? " Well, at a late hour 
that memorable night, sleep overtook me. In the morn- 
ing I broke the subject of endeavoring to do something in 
the same line for hundreds of poor children we knew to 
exist at various stations. The financial consideration was 
the great one, to be sure. The country had been begged 
to death for the relief of all sorts of needy poor. It were 
useless for us to begin, expecting to get money by solici- 
tation. We got down on the two sides of a half-camp 
table and counselled with God. Blessed be the name of 
the Lord who spoke to us from his holy place. We were 
both assured that the doing of something was the will of 
God. Bro. Davis went to, office later. I sat at the conse- 
crated table and penned our intentions in a letter to the 
"Bombay Guardian," and stated that any persons so 
'moved of the Lord could of their own free will help us. 
On Bro. Davis' return from office I showed him the letter. 
Upon his concurrence in the same it was sent to Bro. Geo. 
Bowen, editor of the " Bombay Guardian." The follow- 
ing is that letter as published in the last issue of Feb- 
ruary, 1879 : 

FAMINE IS OVER. 

" So we hear and read. But what are these skeleton-like 
creatures I see all about town, going in flocks from door 
to door? What is that string of seven, the one leaning on 
the other for support as they walk? What are those crea- 
tures, a dozen or more, I see sitting yonder at that man's 
door? What are these semi-living things I see at the road 
side? What are these cries that greet men from the far 
side of the platform as the train comes up to the station? 
Why do the police find it difficult to drive away these 



22 OUR WORK. 

who wait the arrival of every train? See them scramble 
after plantain skins, or bread, or anything thrown from 
the carriage window, as if they were starving! What 
means that cluster yonder watching the goods shed? What 
means so much scratching about in the dust for a few 
grains that just fell? 

1 ' ' Famine is over, ' they say, yet such scenes as the 
above are to be seen all along at almost every station from 
Dhond to Erode. At Barsee Road, Sholapore, Raichore, 
Gulburga, Adoni, Cuddapah and further down there are 
to be seen hundreds of men, women and children almost 
too weak to stand, merely skin and bone. And along the 
line the call for charity comes just as loudly now as ever 
during the famine, and it may also be said that among the 
railway people as much is being done privately to alleviate 
distress at the door as twelve months ago. Yet the bur- 
den is greater. Government says, 'Famine is over,' and 
stops aid. But the people must still give, and even then 
see distress and death. Much has been said about the 
nobility of the thousands in England who sent their mites 
to the famine-stricken. But who shall sound the praises 
of those who with tripled expenses and meagre pay in 
times of plenty, have divided their daily portion with the 
poor at the door now more than two and a half years? 
But while the people ask no recognition of their gratitude, 
it is unjust to say so much about ' famins over ' when starv- 
ing multitudes greet us wherever we go. In every village 
and city in all the Central India country, are thousands 
who can get but a starving pittance, and that by constant 
begging. Money for war, money for brandy, but none for 
the poor. None of these starving beings appeal for the 
heart more pitifully than the little children, three, four or 
five to eight years of age. Little boys and girls, many of 
them fatherless and motherless, boys and girls whom Jesus 
loves as much as any on earth, come and fall down before 
us, crying for food. If we pass them they follow or sit and 



OUR WORK. 23 

weep, Boys and girls driven to desperation, compelled to 
steal or starve, and then lashed by the unkind, or often 
driven away by the dogs. Christian friends, how would 
you feel were your children thus? 

' ' For nearly one year a few friends at Goolburga have 
maintained at their own expense a little poor-house, with 
from ten to twenty-five native children. The amount of 
money expended up to date is about Rs. 600. Some of the 
children have died in spite of care. Several have been 
more recently claimed by friends, several have been found 
homes among Christian people, and a few remain and look 
well. All who joined in this noble work have felt amply 
rewarded with the appreciative dispositions of the chil- 
m dren. It has been a matter of constant prayer that these 
children might become good children. And now the 
remaining ones are every Sabbath gathered for a Sabbath 
school. They are taught the word of God and to pray. 
God is honoring this work of charity. This poor-house, so 
called, closes soon. But one brother has determined to 
continue it as a matter of faith and love. It is also pro- 
posed to take up these poor little starving children wher- 
ever they may be found in such numbers as the Lord may 
send the means to feed and clothe. It is thought much 
more can be done by system in the matter, and it is the 
conviction of our brother that God will answer prayer in 
giving these little children good hearts, and thus both 
body and soul find salvation. It would be a great blessing 
if old and yottiftg could be thus fed. But it does not seem 
possible to do more than care for the little ones. The 
prayers of God's people are asked for all these poor, espec- 
ially for the children. 

' ' ' Famine is over ' while hundreds are starving at our 
door and food remains at three-fold price. Whosoever 
has sympathy in this work, and hath ought to aid in feed- 
ing these little ones and endeavoring to lead them to be 
God's children, may forward their mites to A. C. Davis, 



24 OUR WORK. 

Engineer, Gulburga, or P. Geering, Loco. Foreman, 
Raichore." 

We waited for something to indicate a movement. We 
waited one entire month for a signal to move onward. A 
month of ranch trial to onr faith, and of prayer. How 
the tempter did assail at least one of the two of us. But 
an answer from the Lord came in due time. March 21, 
1879, I came into Raichore to Bro. Geering's and found 
awaiting me a letter from the Rev. T. S. Burnell, of 
Melur, South India, containing Rs. 10, in answer to the 
"B. G." letter. I praised God, took courage and gathered 
assuredly that this was the long-looked for signal for ad- 
ding to Bro. Davis' five orphans. The following day I went 
to Adoni, which had been for more than two years a cen- 
ter of extensive relief works, intending to bring away five 
or more children. The following letter, published a week 
later in the Bombay Guardian, tells what I saw and what 
I did. 

NO FAMINE. 

"Having observed on several occasions lately a large 
number of starving creatures opposite the train at the 
Adoni station, on the 21st, I determined to explore the 
question of famine here a little more freely. At an early 
hour on the morning of the 2 2d, I made my way to the 
1 Camp, ' still maintained on ' Mansion House ' funds. At 
the camp I found a roll of 288 souls, old and young; 185 
males, 130 females, of whom seventy-nine were children. 
Of course some are daily dismissed or sent away to villages, 
and others taken in, thus keeping the number up to nearly 
300. For these, reasonably good sheds are erected, an 
apothecary daily inspects the inmates, and so far as I could 
see, they were well cared for. But outside the camp, 
beneath the trees and elsewhere, were a host of over 800 
persons of all ages, about half males, and fully 200 were 
children. Than this crowd, I never saw a worse during 
the famine. They are largely the absolutely impoverished 



OUR WORK. 25 

and friendless of the region around Adoni, the helpless 
turned away from the broken up camps. One-half of the 
children are children left parentless and friendless. Very 
many of the older ones were left alone, friends having 
died during the dreadful two years past, and, I presume 75 
per cent, of the 800, old and young, are sick or diseased 
Bad feet, ulcerated legs, diseased bodies, camp-itch, eat- 
ing off the limbs, almost, in some cases, covering the head 
and body in others. On the ground there was a little ridge 
of about eight inches in height ; I observed a great num- 
ber moving over this ridge, but being unable to lift a foot 
so high, they would sit down on it and then swing over. A 
more pitiable sight I have never seen. The cries of this 
famishing throng were such as I care not often to hear. 
The condition of this mixed crowd and of the camp is so 
bad that I was told that five to seven die daily. While 
there at the early morning hour I observed five bodies 
rolled up in blankets and carried away. These deaths 
are mostly not the result of present starvation, but having 
been so long starved, food' will not now save them. From 
the Mansion House Fund, this outside company are fed 
one meal a day, consisting of a large 'two-fisted ball of 
cooked jowaree. Tears stream down the cheeks of some 
as they eat, so glad are they. The very greatly emaciated 
and very sick are from this throng taken into the camp, 
and as fast as a little recovered are dismissed again, 'and 
soon are as bad as ever. I was informed by the inspec- 
tor of police that large numbers of such starving creatures 
were all over the district he travels. He said a camp for 
2,000 would not exceed the wants of Adoni. But, alas! 
less than 300 can be cared for. In answer to my former 
letter 'Famine Over,' Rs. 10 had been sent to Mr. Geering 
at Raichore. I felt that ten rupees was an indication of 
duty. I therefore decided to bring away five children. I 
.began to choose. Such as were dangerously diseased I 
did not take, Such as were in a fair condition I did not 



26 OUR WORK. 

take. But of the very poor, aged about five to eight, I 
X.00V five. But my heart yielded. I took five more. I 
could not yet stop ; so four more I selected, making four 
teen orphans. How to feed so many I did not, nor do I" 
now know. But I thought of John 15 — 7, and led my 
flock to the railway station. I could, had I had the money, 
have brought away fifty parentless children. I was urged 
to take more, and I am now urged by the sheristadar to 
return for more. I brought these fourteen orphans with 
me to Gulburga., where Bro. Davis had four remaining 
from the old poor-house. Just now as I write a colporteur 
of the Madras Bible Society is telling Bro. Davis that in 
every villiage where he goes he sees clumps of poor peo- 
ple picking up single grains in the bazaar and begging 
from house to house, relics of the famine. 

The fourteen I brought are now nicely housed with the 
former four, and washed, and some of them make efforts 
to raise a smile on their withered faces. Yesterday we 
gathered them for a little Sunday talk. We found of our 
eighteen about half girls, three are Mussulmani, three 
Telugu, twelve Canarese. The colporteur sang them a 
Telugu hymn and talked to them. Bro. Davis talked to 
them through one of his servants. Our purpose is to 
endeavor to care for these little ones so as to keep them 
from evil influences and endeavor to teach them of Jesus, 
from the first. We hope to make some arrangement so 
that soon the children may do work. We have entered so 
largely into this work pursuant to our purpose expressed 
before in 'Famine Over,' with but little to rely on, save the 
promise of God. We shall keep no subscription list. But 
let the work be known, and whom God makes willing may 
send aught they will to P. Geering, Raichore, or editor 
Bombay Guardian, or A. C. Davis, Engineer, Goolburga. 
Our hearts bleed for more than fifty more parentless chil- 
dren at Adoni, saying nothing of many more all along the* 
line. We have covenanted with God if He provides us 



OUR WORK. 27 

means, to increase our number to fifty. We would like to 
find some godly woman of faith who would esteem it God's 
work to care for and teach these little ones of Christ. This 
we pray for also. Many contingencies hang over our 
enterprise. But while waiting, the children are dying. Sc 
we have begun, believing that God hath said 'Thus do,' 
and he will lead and provide. We have plans for locating 
the little orph anage on a plan that we hope will be blessed 
of God for the eternal good of these children. We think 
the work should lie in close proximity to the railway and 
yet be far away from the many unhallowed influences of 
city surroundings. We commend this work to the faith of 
praying people, that the spiritual aspect of it may be 
blessed. Second to the generosity of those whom God 
maketh willing. Each orphan will cost about Rs. 4 per 
head per month. Does any one want to have one orphan 
in our orphanage? Fifty children borne every hour on the 
faith of God's people from childhood to man or womanhood 
would yield some missionary workers for Jesus. So is our 
faith. Any letters of inquiry may be sent to A. C. Davis, 
Goolburga, or to the Writer at Raichore." 

C. B. Ward. 

My colleague was not at all affrighted by my ingather- 
ing, but proceeded soon after to take in a few more at 
Gulburga, and we soon had a family of twenty-one boys 
and girls whom we intended to rear for God. 

On the 1st of April, 1878, an event of some importance 
to myself transpired at Raichore. I was married to Ellen 
M. Welch, who had come all the way from Chicago to ful- 
fill an original contract to the same effect. W. J. Glad- 
win and W. F. G. Curties, my brethren in the Conference, 
did the official necessary, and Peter Geering did the enter- 
taining royally. As a manifest token of the Lord's favor 
in the particular work we were entering upon so largely, 
a then unknown friend sent us Rs. 50 for the orphan work. 
From this time on for some months a constant stream, of 



28 OUR WORK. 

financial aid came in, and we resolved not to keep any 
large balance on hand but the rather expand our work. 
Thus we continued to gather in other groups of destitute 
children till we had taken in, all told, over 180, from Bell- 
ary, Adoni, Raichore, Shahabad, and Gulburga. The 
condition of things described in the two ' ' Bombay Guar- 
dian" letters was about what we found at all of the towns 
above named during the summer months of 1878. Dur- 
ing the first six months of our work we did not get really 
to the bottom of our cash chest. The Lord knew we 
needed to be encouraged in this good work, and so we had 
our faith tenderly husbanded in these early days of its 
trial. I was tied more or less to my circuit, and the heav- 
iest part of the very laborious work, caring for the 
orphans, fell on Bro. Davis at his Gulburga home. It is 
hardly possible to depict the appearance of the successive 
bands of orphans brought into our gospel camp. Boys 
and girls, varying in age from three to twelve years, well 
nigh naked, unwashed for months, hair uncombed and 
matted and full of vermin, while their bodies were cov- 
ered with filth and sores, and many suffered from guinea- 
worm, dropsy and other diseases, that always follow in 
the wake of long starvation. Whenever a detachment 
came in they must be washed and dressed and fed, and in 
their suffering condition it is hard to really fully appre- 
ciate what this meant. Then hours each day went dress- 
ing sores, extracting the guinea worms, and preparing and 
administering diet to the sick among them. Then all this 
was to be done so as to cure the soul as well as the body. 
No man or woman could have done this Christian-like 
work with greater tenderness and fidelity than did this 
christian engineer. As his gentle touch relieved the suf- 
fering of the living, so his fingers closed the eyes of many 
in death. Angels looked down and wondered as he strove 
day by day to tell these little ones whose parents never 
worshiped aught but idols, of Jesus who even came down 



OUR WORK. 29 

from a heavenly throne to make salvation possible for even 
such as they were. Yea, in those earliest days some of 
those little ones learned to lisp the Savior's name, and 
even in death gave evidence that it was not in vain that 
they had heard the Redeemer's name. We shall meet 
many of those little ones whose bodies we could not save, 
in the better land. 

Within six months I had brought seven different detach- 
ments, of orphans from the towns above named, and quite 
a number had been gathered up at Gulburga, where our 
orphanage work was located. Although the total brought 
in was over 180, yet we never had at any one time more 
than 122 in hand. Many died soon, it being impossible to 
restore them with the best of food, medicine and care. 
While we were yet gathering in, Rs. 2,000 had been sent 
in from many friends who were strangers to us, and we 
were not a little surprised at the bounteous way in which 
the Lord literally answered our prayers. We had begun 
to see that the Lord was leading us into a great missionary 
work among the heathen, and this his way of helping us 
to make our own helpers. How vivid is the memory of 
those last months at Bellary. As the orphan work grew, 
many a time beneath an overshadowing rock in Bellary I 
poured out my soul in prayer and fought many a fiery bat- 
tle with the great adversary of all good work. Oft was 
my heart uplifted, and the wonderful promises of the good 
book made to shine with glory. God' taught us to look 
upon the promises as real and literal, and when later the 
trials came we were not unprepared to meet them and 
count it all joy to have the opportunity of thus glorifying 
God in an unbelieving generation. As we look back at the 
matter now, the call to our knees by pressing wants was 
better for us than the bestowment of hundreds of rupees. 
Oh how the devil tempted and taunted us. ' • You are a 
fine pair of humanitarians, gathering all these children 
now to be turned away again because you can't feed them." 



3° 



OUR WORK. 



He said: " You can't expect people to be always sending 
you money. How presumptuous you have been." But 
on opening God's word we find a host of promises concern- 
ing the ' ' poor and fatherless," from which we would assur- 
edly gather, that the rescue of these little ones was of God. 
"Get thee hence, Satan," set us in large place again, 
in every instance. When we began in March we had 
no well-defined idea of anything of such magnitude 
as the Lord gave us, nor had we well defined notions. 
of what we were to do with our orphans in the future. 
We dreamed of farms, factories, schools, etc., etc., not 
a little. Bro. Davis and myself might have been seen 
pacing over various tracts of vacant land about Gulburga. 
• in the vain hope of getting a permanent footing there. 
We even went so far as to begin buildings of too costly a 
kind, and afterwards the Lord, after causing the rains and 
a dishonest contractor to help in tumbling down some of 
the walling, found a purchaser for the material we had on 
the ground, and let us out with a very slight loss of money. 
But this much became clear, God had shown how my sup- 
port could be gleaned, and that he was leading us to the 
opening of a mission somewhere among the heathen. My 
thoughts turned towards the Canerese country, a glimpse 
of which I had at Shorapore in August, 1878. But no 
definite light came. How well we remember seasons of 
deep heart- searching and prayer together. How often we 
joined together in searching out the unsearchable promises 
of the bible and anchoring ourselves more firmly upon 
them. How God led and helped us two lame disciples. 
"Finney's Autobiography" did us much good, as also did 
Muller's "Life of Trust/' Starting as we did, without a 
bank or missionary treasury, or any rich friends behind 
us, from the very outset we were casting about for some 
productive footing somewhere. The first thing we struck 
was some road-making, which netted one hundred rupees, 
wholly from the earnings of the orphans. We had no idea 



OUR WORK. 31 

of greasing our mission wheels forever with charity oil, 
but rather aspired to repay the Lord all he had lent us as 
famine relief, and in addition, send workers to the region 
beyond, and support them. 

Our example and success was an encouragement and 
inspiration to others. After some correspondence with 
Miss Jennie Frow (now Mrs. Fuller) of Akola, it was 
arranged that we should give her six orphan girls. On 
the 23d of September Rev. J. W. Sibley came to Gulburga 
and six of our girls volunteered to go with him for Miss 
Frow. And as far as we have ever heard these girls, with 
whom we reluctantly parted, all turned out well, and some 
of them at least are to this day valued workers in the mis- 
sion now superintended by Bro. Fuller. 

In the month of June, I wrote to William Taylor, telling 
him of our start, progress and success, and asking his 
help in sending us a lady missionary for the orphanage. 
Early in October his reply reached us, promising us a mis- 
sionary lady in the early part of the coming year, and rel- 
ative to our work in general he wrote : " Go ahead, but 
don't go in debt. God is able to run his enterprises with- 
out running his credit in the money market. Don't bor- 
row, but advertise, pray, work and trust God." 

About this time we were much shut up to prayer as the 
future did not seem clear. It was already pretty plain that 
we were not to stay in Gulburga or the Canarese country, 
and yet where we should go was not at all plain. During 
the time of our deep solicitude for the future of our pros- 
pective mission, I was smitten down with a virulent form 
01 malarial fever. For more than a month I was confined to 
my bed, and was more than weak tor three months. But 
whenever I could think or pray my mind turned to the 
Gulburga camp of over one hundred souls. During my 
sickness I received a letter from William Marrett, an exec- 
utive engineer in the Nizam's D. P. W., telling us of land 
prospects in the Telugii country. He earnestly invited us 



32 OUR WORK. 

to come to the Telugu country and open up mission work. 
This letter was like a gleam of light to our waiting, watch- 
ing hearts. Yet we asked for fuller light. It soon came. 
Bro. Davis, unsought by himself, received orders to go to 
Bro. Marrett's division for work. It now seemed clear 
that he was to go ahead and prepare the way for us all. 
Another providence at this time x resulted in much good to 
the orphans. Bro. Davis became an invalid from the 
appearance of a guinea worm in one of his feet. Two 
months' leave became a necessity, and as he was able, he 
spent nearly all his time with the orphans. He could not 
walk, but the orphans could come to him, and day by day 
as I lay sick in Bellary and he a cripple in Gulburga, these 
little ones came to him and from him heard the words of 
life. When I had recovered a little from my fever I ran 
down to see him and the flock. I could not get back owing 
to my weakness, and stayed there a week. On the Sun- 
day we were there together while we were both sick, God 
gave us a display of the power of grace that greatly 
cheered our hearts. I cannot tell the story better than 
by giving here the letter I wrote soon after to the editor 
of the Bombay Guardian: 

Though nearly seventy have died with us, we rejoice 
that they have died with us, having had christian care and 
heard the name of Jesus, and many of them have learned 
his prayer, rather than that they had died among the hea- 
then and without ever having heard the name of Jesus, 
been bundled off and dumped indifferently into a hole suf- 
ficiently shallow for the jackalls to uncover the first night. 
We are greatly rejoiced at the good influence God by the 
Spirit has helped us to impress on them. 

Months ago we wrote, these children were as impres- 
sible by the truth as ' street arabs ' in Chicago, with whom 
we had to do for one and a half years. I can only empha- 
size that statement now. It is true to the uttermost. See- 
ing this we pray much for all those who have Sunday- 



OUR WORK. 33 

schools among heathen children in India. One hour a day- 
is spent teaching the children the word of God and pray- 
ing with them, in which they all join. A part of the chil- 
dren being Hindustani, one half their time is spent with 
the Hindustani Testament, and the other half with 
the Teluga, which the remainder know, and the day goes 
between washing, working, playing, etc. A few of the 
boys and girls show considerable disposition to be useful, 
and they are. 

In them all we see God's children. On a recent visit our 
hearts were a little sad to see the heathen trinkets many 
of the girls wore. Some of them had them when we gath- 
ered them ; others had got them somehow since being with 
us. We-were at a loss as to how to approach and impress 
them with the heathenishness of wearing such things. But 
God opened the way for His own work as easily as He 
opened the Red Sea. One Sabbath morn it was, the chil- 
dren were all gathered for their usual bible hour. Bro. 
Davis began to talk of the need of being christian out-and- 
out, distinguished from the heathen about us. The matter 
of bangles, earrings, nose jewels, etc., was barely men- 
tioned when one of the noblest of our Adoni trophies, a 
girl very useful and about twelve years old, who had on a 
larger share than any others came to me with all she had, 
and put them in my lap. The example was good ; without 
a word of exhortation every girl in the flock, save one, 
came and put her bangles, earrings, finger rings, and nose 
jewels in my hands ; the other did so the following morning 
just as freely as the rest had done. Our eyes could scarce 
restrain tears of joy that God should make this matter all 
His work. The trinkets were of no money value. But all 
know how the heathen, as well as some white people, 
almost deify such things. Bro. Davis then read and explained 
what God in His word says about wearing jewelry, in 
Timothy and elsewhere, and also what bad use natives 
made of God's gold, instead of feeding the poor, etc., and 



34 OUR WORK-. 

how many Europeans and East Indians went with hands 
flashing with gold (or brass) and ears loaded till they were 
almost like donkey's ears, offtimes not paid for, and in 
most cases when their debts were not paid. We took this 
course that they might know the reason of what otherwise 
might seem strange. I have often been made sad to see 
native christian girls called poor, loaded down with jewelry. 
I know a small congregation of natives said to be too poor 
to support a pastor, in which the women wear jewelry 
enough to keep him two years. 

We bless God for having given so great success in all our 
efforts with our orphans. As God leads us, we hope to go 
into a Telugu Mission field farther east. Attempts have 
been made by natives of the place to excite distrust in the 
minds of the children, and a few did run away. The chil- 
dren were told that we were fattening them up to make 
them into carriage grease for the railway. Of course the 
story is stale now, but caused fright for awhile. 

The Lord has graciously, wonderfully supplied our 
wants. Over Rs. 1,800 have been sent us in answer to 
prayer. On several occasions we have had nothing, and a 
prayer meeting had to be held on the spot, but deliverance 
has always come. It is sometimes keen work to just i let 
go and trust' But it is blessed to do so. We do so long 
to increase our flock. I could gather ioo poor children to- 
morrow had I means. Cold weather is now coming on, and 
the condition of the multitude is deplorable in the Nizam's 
country. 

Readers, pray for our Orphanage, and also that the Father 
of the fatherless will care for the poor in the Deccan plain. 
Anything for the Orphanage to be forwarded as before. 

C. B. W. 

In many ways were we encouraged in the work of the 
first nine months. Of the wellbeing of many who died we 
could not doubt. Some left behind them a fragrant and 



OUR WORK. 35 

precious testimony, passing away in the triumphs of chris- 
tian faith. Others among the living gave evidence of a 
work of grace begun in their hearts. Often was Bro. Davis 
much cheered to hear the prayers some of them lisped for 
themselves and him as they lay under the fly of his tent. 
But we were not sure any were really and brightly con- 
verted to God. We did not see the victory over sin that 
we longed to see, and though we saw much good, yet we 
saw much we could not doubt the devil could justly call 
his own. So we did not broach the subject of baptism, as 
we did not wish to increase the number of baptized heathen 
in India. 

I was not able to visit the orphans in December owing 
to my poor health, and Bro. Davis was off for his new field, 
preparing the way for the rest of us. We had to leave the 
children in the hands of a person employed for the pur- 
pose. In the first days of January, 1880, I attended the 
annual conference, which met in Allahabad. Being very 
weak, I was helped along most of the way by my friend 
and brother, W. J. Gladwin, of Secunderabad. On arrival, 
I placed in the hands of my P. E., W. B. Osborne, a writ- 
ten offer of myself to go out and open missionary work in 
the name of the Lord and the M. E. Church in the Telugu 
country, asking for no pledged support for myself or or- 
phans. I was told the next day after making my applica- 
tion that it was granted, and I was to select my own field 
and originate the work as the Lord should lead. Now came 
another battle and victory. Satan said : ' ' You mean to 
move the orphans and your family 200 miles or more to a 
country you know nothing about, where is all the money 
to come from for all this?" Well, the day after I asked for 
my appointment, I settled this matter with the Lord. I 
knew not how or whence. But God assured me as oft in 
trials before this, that all would be well. My victory was 
my faith, and my faith was in the " living word" of God 
I returned from conference and, in company with Bro. 



36 OUR WORK. 

Richards, who was to succeed me in Bellary, stopped off 
a day at Goolburga. We saw the children, sang and prayed 
with them and went on to Bellary, where I found let- 
ters waiting from both Bro. Marrett and Bro. Davis, bid- 
ding me come on to the country named by Bro. Marrett in 
his first letter — and better than this a draft from America 
which realized exactly Rs. 240, the largest single gift ever 
received in money to this date, and a perfect answer to all 
the devil's lies. For when the tempter was lying to me in 
Allahabad he knew this money was on the way from Amer- 
ica. He hoped to unfit me for using it by getting me to 
fall through unbelief. Praise God, he did not succeed. 
William Taylor had fulfilled his promise, and Miss Mollie 
Miller was already in the country for our work. She was 
soon with us in Bellary. 

On the 2nd of February, leaving Sister Ward behind, I 
set out to find our mission field. That very day our first 
born came to us. He was not long with us, was a great 
sufferer all his days, and went to God who gave him, at the 
age of four months and ten days. None seemed to know 
his ailment, and no help was at any time more than a tem- 
porary relief. 

On arrival at Hyderabad I found that I had to go about 
100 miles north to find Brothers Marret and Davis and our 
mission field. As soon as bullocks could be secured we 
were under way for our jungle home. On the 16th of the 
same month I found the brethren at a place about seventy^ 
five miles from Hyderabad, called Mylarum. Happier souls 
than we were in our enthusiasm for God and the salvation 
of the heathen seldom meet. The following day we drew 
up the following simple outline of a mission platform. I 
give it without comment as an expression of the faith that 
was in us that day. 

I. The God of all grace having drawn us by cords of 
love towards the destitute orphans about us, and by special 
leadings of His word and providence called us to this min- 



OUR WORK. 37 

istry for His poor, the undersigned unite in fellowship of 
faith and labor as an Orphanage association. 

II. This shall be an independent association in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and shall make its reports 
through our papers. The chief purpose of our union shall 
be to pray and counsel together in behalf of the interests 
committed to us by the Lord. 

III. Trusting in Him who has taught us to pray "give 
us this day our daily bread," we are to have no pledged 
financial support from any society or fund : we shall not 
circulate a subscription book or make any public or private 
appeals to man for support, ' ' but in everything by prayer 
and supplication with thanksgiving let (our) requests be 

• made known to God"; "for He hath said, I will never 
leave thee nor forsake thee." 

IV. No fundamental change in the association, such as 
the addition of a member or change of these regulations, 
shall be made without the consent of all the members. Any 
member may retire from the association upon giving notice 
to the others. 

V. This association shall be called the Christian Or- 
phanage. 

We then finding land arrangements unsettled as yet, de- 
termined to order the children overland by easy marches 
of about ten miles per day. The total distance was about 
220 miles. After making arrangements to carry out our 
plans concerning the orphans I went on to Curreemnugger 
with Bro. Davis, and staid with him a month previous to 
my return to Bellary for my family and our goods. Finally 
setting out for Bellary I arrived there on the 23rd of March, 
my birthday. Thus our first year of work was over and 
we were full of faith and enthusiasm for another. We had 
received for the work Rs.3,280, »and had a cash balance on 
hand of Rs. 204. A mission was begun, a veritable "church 
in the wilderness" was in embryo. Our financial platform 
was "trust in the Lord and do good." 



38 OUR WORK. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE DOMESTIC PERIOD. l88o-l88l. 

March 16th, the orphans left Goolbulga on their long 
march. April 5th, they arrived at Mylarum in fair condi- 
tion, two being lost on the way at Secunderabad and three 
dying. Bro. Davis and Bro. Marrett were both at Mylarum 
to welcome them. The total number reaching Mylarum 
was sixty-one boys and girls. The meeting of the brethren 
and the children is best described in Bro. Davis' own words : 
"They (the children) had arrived two hours before Bro. 
Marrett and myself, who were coming in from "Curreem- 
nugger. I had just cantered across a nullah, when the 
whole of the children surrounded my horse, and words of 
welcome and salams could scarce be distinguished in the 
shout of joy which kept rising from fresh batches of chil- 
dren now and then. Some of them were moved to tears, 
the big boys in particular, and I confess I was moved sim- 
ilarly. Bro. Marrett stood by in surprise, just discovering 
it possible for poor black faces to belong to souls endowed 
with like passions with ourselves. We joined in returning 
thanks to almighty God for His protection over these little 
ones. They were visited during the day by Mrs. Marrett, 
who, though disposed to regard the movement unfavorably, 
was moved to tears in their midst, and has been since fore- 
most among those considering what means could advance 
the comfort of the children." 

Although on our arrival at Mylarum arrangements were 
entered into, regarding a temporary settlement there, in 
my absence at Bellary, while the children were making the 
journey from Goolburga, Bro. Davis seems to have had 
serious misgivings regarding any settlement there whatever, 
and under date of April 15th, he wrote: "I stop further 
work on the shed. 'Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.' Every 
movement to accelerate the completion of the shed here 
finds a dissenting voice within." 



OUR WORK. 39 

April 20th, I reached Mylarum and found such a state 
of affairs as at once decided a move to Curreemnugger. We 
proceeded at once to Curreemnugger, to the Government 
bungalow occupied by Bro. Davis, taking with us a few 
bandy loads of timber for hut building. Bro. Davis was ab- 
sent, but came home Saturday evening, the 24th of April. 
On the day we entered Curreemnugger we wrote in our 
diary as follows: — "How God compels us to walk by faith ! 
For six months he has hardly let us see one step ahead. 
Still he leads and blesses us all the way. Bro. Marrett's 
land project has fallen through for the present. We have 
not where for our orphanage save Bro. Davis' quarters 
here. Yet I do not believe there is any mistake in coming 
.into this country. I believe God means us to preach the 
gospel in these parts. We must wait and pray and ■ follow 
where he leads.' " His plan was to get a ruined village and 
plant us on it. I had as yet to acquire the use of the lan- 
guage before I could expect to do much personally. I had, 
however, a poor man for a helper who had some colloquial 
knowledge of both Hindustani and Telugu. Sc from the 
beginning I was able to work through an interpreter. I 
found I had a pretty hard lot to work on. Anger, abusive 
language, petty stealing and fighting were common staples 
in camp. I began resolutely to introduce discipline and 
teach the way of salvation. I secured a teacher and began 
to teach them all Telugu. At an early day here we began 
to allow some of the orphans to do some of the work that 
we had employed servants to do before, and soon discover- 
ed we had been led to find a way to show the children the 
Christian grace of giving at this early period of their ex- 
perience. Right there we introduced the tithe system, and 
our boys and girls have followed it ever since. Our first 
days in Curreemnugger were more or less days of faith 
trial, but we were never forsaken. God was with us, and 
in many ways helped us to reduce to order the ill-ordered 
army under our command. 



4 o OUR WORK. 

Our hearts were heavy, however, in those last days of 
April and the early part of May, 1880. We saw clearly that 
though we had spent a year .with many of these children 
we had yet no proof that any one of those with us was con- 
verted. They were learning to pray and imitate things 
christian. But christian grace was utterly wanting in the 
heart of any one of the number we had with us. We saw 
ourselves educating another detachment of nominal chris- 
tians. Except that we baptised none for the reason that 
we believed them unconverted to God. Our hearts went 
up to God in much prayer for some work of the Holy Ghost 
among them resulting in the unmistakable conversion of 
some, at least, of them. 

May, 1880, was a "red letter" month in our history, the 
forgetting or belittling of which would be little less than 
a crime. We cannot do better, therefore, than copy part 
of what we recorded then. Ten years of observation have 
brought to light nothing to suggest any retraction. 

We had been teaching them (the children) from the 
beginning about Christ and salvation. But that nobody was 
getting converted and that Satan was having so great vic- 
tory over them, day by day, became a matter of great 
heaviness of soul to us. We prayerfully sought counsel of 
God. We saw the adequateness of the provisions of Christ's 
Gospel for their conversion ; but how may these provisions 
become effective? by faith, and faith cometh by 'hearing,' 
and ' hearing ' by the ' Word of God ' 

Thus God made it plain that now was his time to save 
souls among us. It seemed so clear that salvation would 
never be nearer or our orphans nearer to it than now, un- 
less some definite work was done now. These feelings 
grew stronger and stronger till the morning of the 16th of 
May. It was the sabbath day and I was awakened early, 
about 4 a.m., and felt a strong constraint to pray. I cried 
to God earnestly for a wave of salvation over our camp that 
day. I have ever felt that my praying that morning was 



OUR WORK. 41 

in a very especial sense in the Holy Ghost. The hour for 
the morning service came, and Bro. Davis officiated. There 
was nothing extraordinary in that meeting. My faith was 
not discouraged, yet was not bold enough to tell Bro. Davis 
of my early morning experience. All day it continued to 
come over my soul that the Lord was about to display His 
glory among us. Bless the name of the Lord, at the even- 
ing service salvation came and twelve persons were 
awakened by the Holy Spirit, and we tried to lead them 
into the fountain at once. At a late hour we broke up with 
our hearts full of boundless joy in the Lord. I enter here 
a note of that day entered in our missionary diary by Bro. 
Davis, describing his estimate of that high day in our 
"Zion." 

May 1 8th. The [preceding days have witnessed a work 
which bids fair to last. On Sunday morning the children 
gathered for prayer, when I talked of what Jesus did for 
us. The discourse was blessed to many waiting hearts, 
and the meeting closed leaving an increased love on our 
part for these dear children about us. In the evening Bro- 
ther Ward gave them a very apt and simple illustration of 
the disease of sin. Great interest was evinced, and before 
closing Brother Davis suggested that seekers be called 
for. Twelve rose up and were shown the way as simply as 
could be. A meeting was appointed for the next day at 12 
o'clock for seekers. 

At this meeting we explained the waiting of the twelve 
apostles, and exhorted them to wait in the way God had 
directed for the forgiveness of sins and the regeneration of 
their natures. 

Nearly all of them prayed earnestly and intelligently. 
One said, ' Take my hands and my feet and let them be for 
Thy service.' Another confessed he was pleading long and 
fervently and now more than ever for this best of blessings. 
A third was resolved to resign all for Christ. All prayed for 
pardon. Four of the twelve who rose on Sunday evening 



42 OUR WORK. 

were girls. Among them the eldest one, who was known 
to be of a cross and hasty disposition, and who often spoke 
harshly to the other children. 

This day, 12 o'clock, saw us assembled, and we were 
led to question them very closely as to their experience. 
We were satisfied with the testimony of six of the children, 
and the rest did not say anything. 

' One of the eldest and most intelligent ' showed an 

honesty in dealing with himself quite refreshing, and said 

he would consider whether he had received the new heart 

and let us know. The eldest girl, who was noted amongst 

the children for hastiness and rudeness of speech, confessed 

she passed a very pleasant evening the day before, and 

quite enjoyed the singing and felt more kindly towards the 

smaller children. A. C. D. 

Another entry a week later speaks for itself : — 

May 24th. One week yesterday since our hearts were 

gladdened by twelve of our orphans seeking Christ. We 

have had the noon-day meeting with the seekers daily, 

since Monday the 17th. Two more boys came out, and 

yesterday morning one more, and last night fifteen more. 

My heart was filled with trembling joy one week yesterday, 

and I have watched and prayed ever since if peradventure 

the work were genuine. I wrote of it on Monday to 

Bro. G., speaking of it only in moderate terms lest we be 

humbled by later developments. A week has gone and we 

are persuaded that God is truly working in our midst. I so 

conclude from the following facts: (1) There is a marked 

change in the life and conduct of the whole fourteen who 

started out one week ago. (2) There is a marked change 

in the whole orphanage. I think we have had but two case» 

of quarrelling in seven days, against the same daily before. 

(3) The testimony of these fourteen is very clear. (4) They 

all engage in prayer in the noon-day meetings and their 

prayers are all original. We have not put words into their 

mouths, but have left God to teach them to pray. 



OUR WORK. 43 

I am constrained to believe that this is the hand of God 
since it is that for which we have been earnestly praying. 
Doth not God hear? 

Yesterday my heart was much drawn out in direct 
prayer for souls. At morning- prayers I gave a brief 
account of the creation, the garden, the fall and the flaming 
sword. 

All seemed deeply interested for an hour. At evening 
prayers I began with the promise of a Savior made to 
Adam and Eve, noticed the institution of sacrifices to keep 
alive in human minds the necessity of a vicarious attone- 
ment, the birth of Jesus, His boyhood, baptism, teaching 
and works, and then His trial, crucifixion, burial, resur- 
;ection and ascension, all that we might get rid of Adam's 
sense of sin, i.e. to be saved, which salvation is now come to 
us by the preaching of Jesus. We then tried to make the 
acceptance of Christ simple and plain, and called for seek- 
ers. Glory be to God ! four girls and nine boys, one after 
another, rose up, and while we were examining and direct- 
ing these, one girl and one boy more rose, making in all 
fifteen new seekers. Three of those were frequent offend- 
ers up to this time. After prayer we told all those who had 
found a new heart before, to tell these new seekers their 
experience and pray with them. Angels must have shouted 
to see them following out our instructions a little later. 

I know all this is contrary to the usual conception of 
the ability of the heathen to receive Jesus and His salva- 
tion. These children know they are sinners, why may they 
not as clearly know salvation? I cannot believe it to be 
God's will that these young hearts should not be saved till 
years have been spent in learning prayers, eu. They can 
not read but they can understand Jesus. 

June 2nd. The mid-day meetings continue, together 
with those of the morning and the evening. The two latter 
are devoted to Gospel singing, exhortation and teaching ; the 
mid-day meetings to giving practical directions in the way 



44 OUR WORK. 

of life. Satan has been busy attempting to destroy the 
work of God, and has drawn some of the little ones to stay 
away from meetings, and in other cases to indulge in anger. 
Verily these children are taught of God. We see it in their 
fervency in prayer, in their altered manner and the joy 
that beams on their faces, in every one of which we find 
something to love. 

Yesterday's communion with the children was such as 
I seldom have experienced in the company of the children 
of God. The children felt like leaping and keeping time 
to the hymn "That will be joyful y I cannot tell how we re- 
frained ourselves from doing so. There is on their part an 
exhibition of a very earnest mind to continue, and the fer- 
vor of their resolves in soul is inspiring. Some say, ' En- 
able us to keep this new mind as we would money;' others, 
'Help us to keep it as we do our clean clothes;' another, 
'We will keep in the narrow way, though Satan and our 
friends ask us to walk in the broader one.' 'Oh, that we 
may be in Thy sight as green trees are in the sight of men, 
pleasant to behold !' 

With all these encouragements I have been tempted to 
think there were too many meetings, and these should be 
confined to special seasons only, and let meetings twice a 
day suffice. But God has shown me by blessing me every 
time I meet with the children that it is His will. Do we 
not study our bibles daily? These meetings occupy the 
place of bible study with them. My heart rises in much 
fervency to God as I write, in supplicating for these chil- 
dren. 

Up to this time Mrs. Ward had been kept from the 
scene of these labors, caring for our first-born son, who, 
born February 2nd, 1880, after a little more than four 
months of almost constant suffering departed this life from 
the home of one of our friends in Sifabad (a suburb of 
Hyderabad) The little sufferer went to meet some of our 
orphans gone before, while we toiled with the living. Dear 



OUR WORK. 45 

ones taken from us here are golden chains binding us to 
another world. 

After an absence of twenty-one days, returning from 
Hyderabad, I am rejoiced to find the Lord has been pleased 
to continue the blessed work of grace begun in May. Yes- 
terday to my surprise over fifty children came together for 
the Monday meeting. On inquiry I found over twenty had 
set out to seek God in my three weeks absence. Oh, how 
my heart doth praise the Lord for such goodness ! but it is 
just what we have been praying for month after month. 
There is such a wonderful change in the whole orphan- 
age. Our meetings are as heart-warming as any I ever 
attended. 

Some would ask what sort of christians the heathen 
make. I think about as good as in Paul's day, except that 
ours labor under the disadvantage of not being able to 
read, and a want of bible knowledge, and the limits of 
heathen impressions. But they are sinners, loved and 
saved by Jesus. But God helps wonderfully in meeting 
the demand of the experience m and character of our little 
flock in the three meetings a day and free intercourse with 
them. 

June 14th, Miss Cecilia O'Leary, of Hyderabad, an 
Eurasian christian of good repute among all the brethren, 
joined our mission, age twenty-four, and groaning earn- 
estly to be 'filled with the Spirit.'" 

During the months of June and July we passed through 
various and trying experiences. Internal harassments of 
the devil trying to destroy all the good done, and the out- 
ward assaults of the wicked who would steal or allure away 
the children when possible. Oft we were without money, 
but in wonderful ways the Lord always came to our relief 
just in time. 

During these days we wrote, "why do these trials come? 
Do they not weaken the workers' hands? No. By them 
comes a development of character suited to the work 



4 6 OUR WORK. 

which can be reached in no other way. I bless God for our 
trials." 

I recorded also as follows, on August ist, 1880. 

During the last week we have been unfolding the sub- 
ject of baptism to the children as the sign of enrollment in 
Christ's army. We have reason to believe a work of grace 
is begun in the hearts of about forty of the orphans, yet 
some of these have not manifested that degree of steadfast- 
ness we would like to see. We do not believe in increas- 
ing the number of baptized heathen in India if we can 
help it. 

We have with us two orphan boys who were for two 
years in an orphanage maintained by one of the oldest 
evangelical missionary societies of India. After having 
learned the Lord's prayer, some portions of scripture 
and a few other literary items they were baptised, receiv- 
ing new names. Neither they nor their sister can under- 
stand the new name business, and so persist in the reten- 
tion of the old names. I sympathize with them in this 
matter. But these boys have yet to learn anything of the 
new heart experience. 

I am aware I am treading tender ground, but I do not 
believe the Lord calls us to baptise heathen orphans before 
they are converted. So in putting this matter before the 
children we have exercised great care to explain the cere- 
mony as the Savior's command and the believer's privilege, 
implying on the believer's part the "sign" of their having 
already entered into covenant relations with God, on His 
part the covenant "seal " that he will continue unto the be- 
liever, he being faithful, all the blessings that pertain to 
that covenant. Yesterday, being satisfied that a number 
of boys and girls should be baptized, we met them for an 
hour's special talk about the matter in the afternoon. 

Thirteen boys and nine girls came in. After going over the 
grounds of the obligation and privilege carefully, we sub- 
mitted the question, "do you desire to be baptised," to each 



OUR WORK. 47 

one. We bade them retire, to think and pray over the sub- 
ject, and as many as after so doing desired baptism, we 
would baptise at 7 p.m. Promptly at 7 p.m all were gath- 
ered in the bungalow, with those desiring baptism in 
front. 

All our camp turned out that night, servants, peons, 
orphans, and all our staff. Meeting began by singing, after 
which Bro. D. and myself prayed. The subject of baptism 
was again briefly explained, and why these only were to be 
baptised; after which I baptised the thirteen boys and nine 
girls as they knelt in front of us. Only one name was 
changed. One little girl named Booboo received the name 
of Munny. 

The Lord indeed was with us in this first baptismal 
service in our "wilderness church." Great solemnity rested 
on us all. Never more earnestly did we pray for the death 
of all carnal affections and lusts than when baptising these 
twenty-two orphans ranging from the age of eight to six- 
teen years. May God establish them and lead them early 
into the experience of holiness. We have never yet bur- 
dened the children with the name of " Methodist." While 
we believe the organic form of Methodism is scriptural, 
and while we work on the time-honored methods of Meth- 
odism, yet we endeavor to impress on the minds of the 
children the fact, that all our teaching is drawn from God's 
own word. 

C. B. W. 

Soon after this we organized all those professing conver- 
sion into "fellowship bands." In one band we had twenty- 
four, in another twenty-one. We employed a teacher and 
pushed the work of making every boy and girl able to read 
the word of God. 

September 14th, Brother Da\is wrote, " Bro. Ward bap- 
tised eight boys and five girls. The usual indications we 
take to guide us with reference to the character of those 
professing conversion are fervency in prayer, uniform good 



48 OUR WORK. 

behavior, and their intelligent confession of Christ. Yes- 
terday at the usual noon meeting, following the hints for 
discourse given by Bro. Ward on Abraham's lie, we con- 
cluded by asking those who desired baptism to stand. We 
were not quite prepared for the result. Some rose whom 
we did not think serious, while some deserving ones did 
not rise, but nothing daunted we believed that God would 
stay the feet of those who were yet blind. However, we 
told those who rose and a few more we thought truly serious 
to meet us at 5 p.m. for consultation and examination. A 
little before that time we were sorely tempted to postpone 
the examination and baptismal service, but the very cause 
which seemed unfavorable was the means of throwing light 
upon that which occupied our minds concerning the choice 
for baptism among those who were to gather for examina- 
tion. The little disturbance created by one of the boys at 
noon served to show him he had not seriously considered 
the nature of that for which he was asking, nor the peculiar 
qualifications necessary. 

The selection having been as carefully made as possi- 
ble, we questioned those chosen as to their resolves, their 
faith in Christ, and their present experience of forgiveness. 
Satisfactory responses being given, these eight boys and 
girls were baptised at 7 p.m. My men were present on 
this as on the previous occasion, when orphans were bap- 
tised. The names of two boys, Murgah and Hunama, were 
changed to Lutchmiah and Yankiah, respectively. 

By October all hopes of the village Bro. Marrett had ex- 
expected to get from the goverment for us, were utterly 
blasted. 

October 5th. We made in person an application to the 
Taluqdar at Curreemnugger for some land. He refused, 
and we memorialized His Highness' government. The 
Taluqdar refused on the following grounds : — 

1. I was a foreigner. 2. I was not employed in any part 
of government service and therefore without visible means 



OUR WORK. 49 

from which the government could recover anything if need 
be. 3. I was a christian missionary. To our memorial came 
no satisfactory reply. 

November 7, 1880. Sunday evening we had our first 
communion with the children. In the morning we devoted 
an hour (4: 30 to 5 : 30 a.m.) to prayer for the children, that 
they may clearly perceive and rightly use this ordinance. 
At a special meeting with the baptised children we tried to 
impress upon them that this ceremony was done in remem- 
brance of the death of Christ' for us. As we made the nature 
of His death plain to them, our hearts were filled with the 
blessed joy and consolation which the reception of that 
truth imparts. With the exception of one boy, all mani- 
fested a becoming seriousness. One boy displayed a little 
levity on account of some occurrence and we asked him to 
withdraw. We have reason to hope, in some cases at least, 
that they had a true and solemn conviction of. the impor- 
tance of the profession they were making according to their 
capacity. The Lord indeed was with us and blessed us all. 

November 20th, we defined our position as follows: 

(I) " We are temporarily settled in the Nizam's Domin- 
ions. (2) The Government does pot order us out, nor pro- 
hibit our staying. (3) Israel was forty years temporarily 
settled in the wilderness. Can we not stand it awhile? (4) 
If we have to go, we can cross the Godavery and still be in 
the Telugu field. " 

During the month of November we were much tried. 
No less than fourteen of the children were induced of the 
devil to run away. But in the end the devil over-did him- 
self and most of them came back repentant and wiser. Up 
to the end of November but two of our new converts had 
fallen back, and many more had been touched with the 
finger of God's love. Our " fellowship band " meetings 
were the scenes of much blessing, and the means in our 
hands of leading on and up and into the things of Christ. 

That a great work had been wrought among us was evi- 



5o OUR WORK. 

dent, but we were not satisfied to stop with that any more 
than was Paul with the Ephesians, Colossian, Philippian, 
and Thessalonian heathen converts. We longed for an out- 
pouring of the Holy Ghost on our church. We longed to 
see a deeper conviction of the sinfulness of sin and a clearer 
faith in the all-cleansing power of Jesus' blood. 

We gathered from the Word of God : — 
(i) "That our Gentile Church should be baptised with the 
Holy Ghost. (2) " That Jesus' blood effected an atone- 
ment embracing this end when apprehended by faith. (3) 
"That this work is generally brought about by some 
agency in God's hand. (4) " That it is our duty to conse- 
crate ourselves to be such agency, willing to be taught the 
use of any means for the accomplishing of so glorious a 
work. 

5. "That if we be not that agency, God will hear prayer 
for the early sending of such an agency, as may serve 
Him for sanctifying this church. " 

We were sure if we ever saw anything better than the 
multitudinous mongrel exhibitors of christian character 
found in so many "Native christians" of India, it would 
be by virtue of a mighty Holy Ghost power, enthroned in 
our church. And our daily prayer was, "Come Holy 
Ghost with all thy quickening power. " 

Almost from the beginning we taught the duty of tith- 
ing in our church, and of the little petty earnings of the 
children in seven months ending November 30th, 1880, Rs. 
13-3-0 were given of which Rs. 7-3-0 was devoted to the 
"Transit Fund. " 

December 14, 1880, I set out for conference to be 
held in Bombay walking 40 miles and carting 56 in 70 hours 
to Hyderabad, where I took the train. Conference re- 
ceived our report with gladness and much encouragement 
did we receive, but no more workers ; English work ab- 
sorbed all forces nearly. While I was away the ladies in 
charge had enjoyed God's favor, help and protection, and 



OUR WORK. 51 

December 31st held the first Watch-night service ever held 
in Curreemnugger or in the "Telugu Church." 

February 6, 1881, we baptised five more precious souls 
making a total number baptised of fifty, of whom only 
three had fallen away. Just before the end of this, our two 
years of work, we had a blessed day of prayer and ended 
with "the Lord's Supper." Forty-seven knelt and par- 
took to their "edification, " /. e., building up. 

March 12th found us moved back from Curreemnugger 
to Mylarum to execute tank repairs, and all the able-bod- 
ied boys and girls were at work. This year had been one 
of much spiritual and temporal mercy. Owing to very low 
grain, rates of living had been cheap. Indian corn was 40 
' seers per rupee — gram, 25 seers — dhall, 20 seers — jowarrie, 
28 seers, (the seer weight is 2 lb; the rupee equals 40 
cents.) 

Our receipts for the year were a little under Rs. 4,000, 
the number of orphans stood sixty-four. Workers, Miss 
M. M. Miller, Miss C. O'Leary, myself, and wife. 

March 1st we wrote in our diary, "Our hearts are much 
drawn out for East Indian orphans. Shall we open a new 
department of our faith work under the head of ' The Chil- 
dren's Home?' I am seeking the mind of the Lord on 
the matter." 

W. B. Osborn had gone to Australia leaving us two 
East Indian orphans. About the same time Brother Davis 
wrote to us from Kundy: "What do you think of taking 
in poor East Indian children? Five here at Kundy; we 
wish to know what you think of it. " 

Thus, with the favor of God, we, over fourscore souls, 
lived well on about Rs. 300 per month. God led out our hearts 
to do more for Him without anxiety over money matters. 

Among "Mission Regulations" drawn up toward the 
end of this second year, we find the following : — ■ 

II. The Telugu Mission shall be known as " the first 
Telugu Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India. " 



52 OUR WORK. 

It may be well here to make a note as to the style of 
life in which we maintained our orphans. All without ex- 
ception, had come from the poorest classes of Hindoo and 
Mahommedan Society. A house to them meant a small 
thatch hut, perhaps with mud walls, barely high enough to 
stand upright in, and costing but little, being such as the 
occupants could readily construct themselves. One thing 
we were strongly determined to do, namely, not to initiate 
our orphans into a style of life and dress they would not as 
natives be able to maintain by their own means in after life. 
Thus their food was plain native food ; their houses small 
huts of their own building with our help — about eight feet 
by ten feet on the ground, thatch roof, costing if paid 
for, about Rs. 3, or $1 each. 

During the first year at Goolburga they occupied, with 
government consent, old Mahommedan tombs — large 
buildings under government protection. Our second year 
at Mylarum, and Curreemnugger, and back again at Myl- 
arum, the small huts sheltered them, and we occupied a 
larger one. Our style of life we framed on a very hum- 
ble and economical line, not far away from the native style, 
lest we be a source of evil to the orphans and other natives 
about us whose covetousness needs no exciting. Indian 
diet for India life became a motto with us. We were thus 
enabled to do much good, and we found it after all the line 
of Jiealth. 

Our third year was very largely spent in the routine of 
acquiring the language ourselves, teaching, training and 
caring for our orphans. We set out upon this year owing 
no man anything but love. Yet we felt the prime impor- 
tance of getting our coming men and women to work in 
some way. When the year began, forty-two of our orphans 
were found engaged upon the construction of an oriental 
tank. Their weapons were picks, powrahs and baskets. 
With these earth was dug up, filled into baskets, and these 
borne upon the heads of the females for the most part to 



OUR WORK. 53 

the bund or dam under construction. Not used to such hard 
work for many a day it came a little hard upon them and 
so to encourage them I would take my place among them 
for several hours per day. 

In the latter part of February, 1880, Rev. W. B. Os- 
born left India for Australia, leaving Harry and Ellen 
Hall, two Euraian orphans for us to take care of. My 
mind had been led to contemplate for some time a branch 
of our work for this class of needy children in India and 
Brother Osborne's benefaction of two precipitated the 
matter and I accepted this as a divine indication that we 
should begin. Forthwith I wrote letters to the "Bombay 
Guardian " and the "India Watchman " stating that a com- 
.mencement had been made and this work would be carried 
on under the name of the "Christian Home. " With ref- 
erence to the work we were doing we found correspond- 
ence with other workers laboring upon the same platform 
a very great means of grace to us. Letters from Mrs. 
Mumford of Bulgaria, Miss Anstey of Colar and Miss Frow 
of Ellichqur were an encouragement to us in many ways. 

Early in April Miss Mollie Miller severed her connec- 
tion with us and was soon in another mission. Her health 
had not been the best while with us and our work was not 
the kind that her talents best fitted her for. . She is to 
this day I understand a useful missionary wife in the Bap- 
tist Mission in Bengal. Miss O'Leary was however of 
great value as a worker and the Lord blessed her labors 
very signally in converting our cook Ramswamy and his 
wife, through her agency. In the month of May we had 
some experiences that tried our faith a little with refer- 
ence to money. On the 16th of May we received notice of 
the largest offering that had ever come to us from one per- 
son, Rs. 350, some unknown friend signing himself or her- 
self "M. P. " Two days after the news of this large item 
came, we were out of all supplies. All were happy with 
our eyes toward the hill from which cometh our help. 



54 OUR WORK. 

The trial was peculiar, in that we knew we had plenty of 
money in Hyderabad, though none in hand. On the 26th 
we had but one meal of grain, a little salt a few onions. 
Not a boy or girl uttered a word of complaint and for this 
reason I felt like weeping. 

The next day money came. We had no breakfast but a 
good dinn(r. While this trial was upon us, we had over Rs. 
600 to our credit in Hyderabad and Bombay. We now 
ordered our Second Report published at once. May 29th, 
Burdur Kissim went to heaven. Poor boy he suffered 
much and long, never recovering from the debilitating 
effect of the famine. He was buried near where Raichore 
Naga was buried thirteen months before. He was a good 
boy and loved Jesus. He was never baptised but we believe 
he is with Jesus. With our huts as yet unfinished, on the 
morning of June 1st the monsoon broke upon us and soon 
flooded all our houses. June 6th. We baptised one boy, 
two girls, our cook Ramsamy and his wife. June 17th. Six 
girls with sister O'Leary and ten boys with me began the 
reading of the Gospel of John in Telugu. Oh, how we 
have longed for the day when these children could read 
God's word in their own tongue ! Now we praise his name. 
During this month an officer, deputized by the Nizam's 
government, came to investigate a charge that had been 
made against us that by a process of starvation we were 
compelling Mahommedan children to become Christians. 
After thorough investigation this honorable representa- 
tive of government reported the charge false and com- 
mended our work in his report to government. 

At an early day it was evident that the Lord was with 
us in the effort to save Eurasian orphans as well as native. 
At first Bro. Davis thought the move premature, but in a 
little time he was as enthusiastic with reference to this 
branch of the work as myself. Special offerings came in 
from various parties, and Rev. Mr. Gates of the American 
Board at Sholapore, wrote us of four orphans who later 



OUR WORK. 55 

came to us. The pitiful condition of these last four, 
can scarce be told. Let it suffice to say both parents 
had died from drink, and these children were homeless 
and friendless. Within four months from our start we 
had received Rs. 251 in special offerings for this special 
work, and had six orphans. Sister ward had the special 
charge of the Eurasian orphans, and Sister O'Leary of the 
native girls, while I looked after the boys. Bros. Davis 
and Marrett sent us two boys for this last branch of our 
work, bringing up the number to eight. 

In July we had another sharp trial of our faith by reason 
of the non-remission of our money from Hyderabad. Dur- 
ing the first seventeen days of July we lived on about one- 
half the usual diet, and received a very kind favor from 
"Mr. James Campbell of Curreemnugger, in that time. 
On the 1 8th a hoondee for Rs. 270 which had been lying 
by in Hyderabad for some time, came to hand. The heav- 
ens rang with our praise that night. 

In the end of July, I went across the Godavery — 160 
miles — to see a proposed village site there. I passed 
through a beautiful country and enjoyed the forest scenes, 
more like home forests than anything I had yet seen in 
India. I mounted a village hill 2,500 feet above the sea, 
and found there in the first days of August at Chilmela a 
chilly, shivery atmosphere. I could walk in safety bare- 
headed at midday, while in the plain below I would have 
been sunstruck in ten minutes. After thorough examina- 
tion of the village of Albaka and surrounding country, I 
concluded that "in the event of our being utterly unable to 
gain any landed footing in the dominions of If. H. the Nizam," 
Albaka would make us a good home, though the place was 
unsuitable for a mission center for Yelgundel district. 

As I came back, Mr. Neilson, an engineer at Hanama- 
condah, gave me a pony worth about Rs. 50. We remem- 
ber an impression that came very forcibly upon us as we 
made this journey that the poor people of India were 



56 OUR WORK. 

smoking- up enough to support the gospel well,, to say 
nothing of thousands and thousands who gulp down toddy 
and distilled liquor. 'Heathenism is expensive. Chris- 
tianity would be a vast economy to this people well, and 
orientally settled. 

My old friend, W. J. Gladwin, editor of the India 
Watchman, had been a staunch friend of our work from 
the beginning and through the India Watchman, letters 
were regularly sent out, by which means many were kept 
informed of our progress and experience. I doubt not 
that a large part of the money sent us was by the inter- 
ested readers of the India Watchman. Besides individuals 
this year we received offerings aggregating Rs. ioo from 
four different Sunday schools. From Rangoon, Bombay, 
Calcutta and Khundwa, respectively. 

An entry made in the mission diary by Bro. Marrett 
July 31st of this year gives some idea of the routine work 
we were doing. So we give it here, 

''Camp, Ullepur, July 31, 1882. 

' ' I thank God for the privilege and gratification of vis- 
iting this branch of His work. It is now two years since 
I last saw the orphans, and what a change ! In this short 
space of time the work has prospered beyond conception. 
Then there were a number of ill-conditioned, ill-clad, ill- 
behaved beings ; now as fine a lot of boys and girls as one 
would wish to see, well clad, well cared for and remark- 
ably well behaved. Then none acquainted with God; now 
upwards of half the number, sons and daughters of the 
most High, realizing practically the joys of salvation. 
Then none had seen a book as their own ; now a goodly 
number are able to read the New Testament, everything 
indicating faithful labor on the part of those entrusted 
with them. My stay at Premoor was limited, arriving on 
Thursday night and leaving again on Monday. After a 
ride of three and a half hours through thick jungle, Bro. 
Davis and myself alighted at Premoor. While approach- 



OUR WORK. 57 

ing, there came, borne on the light breezes of the night, 
the happy sound of song. Presently we see fires, and a 
moment later we are in a square, three sides of which are 
bounded by huts, and on the other side stands the tent. 
One little fellow keeping watch over the farm stock, spies 
us and raises the alarm, shout answers shout from all quar- 
ters, and we are quickly surrounded by happy faces and 
glowing hearts. Hardly off our horses, when they all 
scramble to shake hands with us. After a good deal of 
hearty hand-shaking we are welcomed to the ' Church in 
the Wilderness.' We are told that brother Ward and sis- 
ter O'Leary are at band meetings, a few minutes later and 
we greet them. As invited, we soon fare on cold venison 
and sundry other nice things provided by sister O'Leary. 
Although we had come twenty-two miles that day, we did 
not tire of hearing of the good things the Lord had been 
doing for this flock in the wilderness. It was midnight 
before we retired. Early next morning we were sum- 
moned to morning prayers. Towards the center of the 
square we found the inmates of the Christian orphanage 
and home, collected in orderly squads singing a couple of 
Telugu hymns. Nursa led in prayer — in prayer not 
taught of man but of God — most intelligently, and 
vSaboona led in the repetition of the Lord's prayer. An- 
other hymn and all disperse to their several occupations, 
some to study under the puntulu, some under sister 
O'Leary, some off with the cart for timber for brother 
Ward's house, some away to the huts about the daily 
housework, and brother Ward off to his tent to his work. 
In the evening all collected for prayer again, after which 
each squad walked off to their huts, from each of which 
there soon arose simultaneously the praise of God in song 
and prayer. This I was informed was their family prayer. 
Each one, however, retires for private prayer before 
sleeping. Gracious Savior, thus art thou glorified here. 
Who would not wish to live in this blessed atmosphere? 



58 OUR WORK. 

Certainly those who love the Lord Jesus, would, Satur- 
day was a holiday. After prayer all make off to play or 
housework. No noise or disorder, but well behaved groups 
of strollers, with arms affectionately entwined around 
each other's shoulders, moving about here and there. 
Some swing, others gather wild berries or flowers. 

Boys in the Christian Home are at their tops, Brother 
Davis' present ; Alice puts a lining in her work basket^ 
from the same donor. How happy all looked ! My heart 
wells up to God in thankfulness as I look on this scene. 
Can it be that these are the miserable, dying, famine- 
stricken orphans succored three years ago? Yea, verily, 
and what has change! the scene? The gospel; gracious 
Savior, glory be to Thee ! In the evening two bands met, 
I joined one with sister O'Leary. 

The band consisted of nine wee ones. Praise the 
Lord for what I heard! Little lips testifying to Jesus' 
power to save from temper; contrition for want of vigi- 
lance, and unfaithfulness in prayer; Jesus filling with joy. 
Each testimony was followed by some appropriate exhor- 
tation by sister O'Leary, or the singing of a verse. Later 
each member prayed. Blessed Lord, truly ' out of the 
mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise.' 
The pleading of the promises show how their instruction 
has written them on their hearts. I was told one of these 
little ones was a prayer leader. I retired that night much 
burdened. I have been an unprofitable servant. I rose 
Sabbath morn much refreshed, joys of salvation welling 
up. Was present at morning prayer, and spoke on John 
iii : 3 for awhile. The children were attentive and inter- 
ested, answering readily several questions on the subject. 
Later an English service for ourselves. The Lord with 
us. In the afternoon a service for the servants. Bro. 
Ward read and explained the * marriage f east } ' and I added 
something on the guest without the wedding garment. 
The Lord gave me much freedom. Later came the bible 



OUR WORK. 59 

meetings with the children. I joined Nursa with the 
larger girls. He is a little preacher already, taught of 
God. He is zealous for the Lord, and became a little stern 
with those who did not readily memorise the verse required. 

In the evening there was a short preaching service in 
Telugu, all being present, conducted by Bro. Ward. The 
lesson for the day, Matt. vii. : 1-14, afforded the theme, 
dwelling chiefly on the 7th and 8th verses. I added a few 
words on the 14th and 15 th verses. I have never seen a 
more eager and attentive audience. Thus ended a Sab- 
bath at Premoor, a day of much rest and refreshment to 
my soul. The Lord bless Premoor for one of the happiest 
days I ever spent. Sister O'Leary, though suffering from 
fever, is faithful to her charge ; Sister Ward is in Banga- 
lore; Bro. Ward is hearty and well, full of love for the 
children, and abounding in good works. In less than two 
years he has mastered Telugu, and now speaks it fluently. 
I would gladly join this happy band did circumstances per- 
mit. I find from my reading of the mission diary that 
peculiar trials have followed these faithful workers. Yet 
all has not been trial by any means. I lie down this last 
night of my stay at Premoor, feeling that the Lord is 
working mightily, preparing himself a glorious church out 
here. ' The Lord God is a sun and a shield. He will give 
grace and glory.' — Psalm lxxxiv. 11." 

Satan was not content to let us go on in this good work 
without some master strokes at discomfiting us. I give 
here an extract of the day as to one of his efforts to annoy 
us and destroy souls . 

The wife of Ramsamy the cook had in the earlier days 
of October swerved from the Lord and yielding to the 
jeers of some of the villagers she put on toe-rings, ban- 
gles, rings, etc., again. Thus her soul was covered with 
a cloud of darkness. But on the 9th inst. she yielded her- 
self fully to God again, confessed how she shrank from 
the shame of the cross, lost her peace, and the consequent 



6o OUR WORK. 

soul darkness. Then she again received Jesus and was 
joyfully restored to divine favor. Our whole camp was 
made glad by her testimony that night. Her toe-rings, 
bangles, rings, etc., etc., were all smashed up with envi- 
able zeal. 

We had calmly considered our line of procedure, and 
believing it to be the bible platform, we decided to go on 
the clean platform without tobacco, liquor, jewelry, betel 
nut, bang, opium. We saw no way of drawing the line 
between the moderate use of jewelry and the outrageous 
profligacy of the heathen, except to proscribe, as the bible 
does, (i John, 2, 15) all ornaments, whether of glass, brass, 
copper, lead, iron, pewter, silver or gold, worn on any 
part of the body. We cannot baptise a repentant heathen 
who has not repented of and forsaken " the lust of the 
flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," embodied 
in these marks of heathenism and sin. It is easier to keep 
evil out than to get it out when once in. 

We pushed on the work of this period and with little out 
of the ordinary from month to month. In November I at- 
tended the conference session which was held this year 
in Bangalore, about 800 miles away. Sister O'Leary 
had been away for a little rest before this and had on a 
visit to Poona experienced the blessing of a pure heart. 
She had come back thus doubly refreshed for the work. 
When I went to conference Sister Ward went along and 
remained there with Brother and Sister Lee for a time. 
I was much encouraged at the spirit of the Bangalore con- 
ference it being much more sympathetic toward work 
among the heathen than some previous ones had been. It 
is hardly fair to say there was ever any antipathy to 
native work in the conference but there was certainly a dis- 
position for some years, to go on developing the English 
work and to leave the native work till a more convenient 
time. I found this conference an improvement in this 
respect. On my return from conference the first work 



OUR WORK. 61 

before me was to erect new quarters in a new place for our 
whole colony. A heathen man gave us permission to 
occupy a small piece of land on conditions we regarded as 
more comfortable than those a reputed Christian had been 
willing to grant us We put up 1 6 small huts and dug two 
wells and spent Rs. 26-13-0 on the job. We were truly 
happy in our new and quiet home. We called the place 
Premoor, i. <?., the village of love. 

Brother Davis was married this month and this ended 
practically his personal work in the mission. 

December 15th, Wesley Asbury and William Taylor, 
were born to C. B. and E. M. Ward in Bangalore. 

At Premoor we observed a merry Christmas and had a 
.solemn and profitable New Year, with such a diary entry 
as follows: — "We take this opportunity of noting the re- 
markable fact that in all our history so far, we have not 
had one instance of improper conduct between our boys 
and girls, and we have not felt called upon to proceed with 
matchmaking in any case as a preventative measure. A 
good lady recently asked as to how could we at all times 
watch our children while at their work. Our only reply 
was that for some part of our work we must trust God 
largely. While we have done our work so imperfectly, he 
has done his wonderfully. We close the year somewhat at 
home and happier than the children of kings, in our chosen 
work. It is a matter of no little satisfaction, that we have 
been permitted to live for Christ in the midst of the heathen 
and devote our daily life to the training of our orphans. It 
has been good for us to live by faith for all things. This 
day closes ten months since I penned the letter that began 
our " Christian Home." Of what are we convinced to-day? 
That it is good to trust in the Lord, and that he hath led us 
most graciously into and in this work. Blessings both tem- 
poral and spiritual have come abundantly on both us and 
the orphans all through these months. The condition of 
six of the children we have, would have been deplorable 



62 OUR WORK. 

enough had not God given them a home among us. Bad 
influence and indifferent care, were the heritage of all of 
them. They are now comfortable and free from the mul- 
titude of baneful surroundings, with as many hallowing in- 
fluences as possible. All have been taught and except 
Peter can read the bible at prayer time and study daily the 
lesson for themselves. They have learned to do much for 
themselves, so they are not very burdensome. Two of the 
children show evidence of the operation of grace in their 
hearts. Daily some one has met them in prayer. God 
has covered our work and us with free, boundless, amazing 
mercy and love. 

January i, 1880, the India Watchman fell into my 
hands. Brother Gladwin, from broken health and absence 
from the country had been compelled to give up the edi- 
torship so laboriously and freely held for three and a half 
years. I had from the beginning been his assistant and 
now on me fell the burden and the blessing. Brother 
Gladwin had arranged to hand it over to some one else 
with a view to closing it out. But our work could not 
spare it. Early in the year 1878 on the invitation of 
Brother J.J. Ottley, an engineer, I paid a visit to the city 
of Shorapore in the western part of the Nizam's Dominion 
in the Canerese country. I regarded Shorapore as a beau- 
tiful place and saw the country a fruitful one, full of sheep 
without a gospel shepherd. From that time I prayed, off 
and on, for that needy field. In 1880, my heart was much 
impressed to pray for a missionary. God gave us money 
for the passage of such missionary from America. We 
sent the money to Bro. Taylor, told him of the field and 
its perishing hundreds of thousands without a missionary 
of Christ. Bro. Taylor writes us that he will send the man 
when he can find him. Praise God. 

The money that came into hand was sent in by readers 
of the Watchman on an appeal for money to get out some 
new missionaries for work exclusively among the heathen. 



OUR WORK. 6 3 

All our efforts to secure land direct or through our friends 
had proven futile. We were kept to following as God led 
step by step. 

We ended the year with fifty-nine orphans, five ran away 
and one new one came in. Only five baptisms during the 
year. Out of fifty baptised seven had fallen away leaving 
us forty-three converted baptised communicants and ten 
probationers who show some marks of grace begun. ' ' As 
we go on, we feel more and more loth to swell the num- 
ber of baptised heathen in India. Some missionaries de- 
fend the baptism of persons who are willing to put them- 
selves under religious instructions. But to our mind this 
is but the deception of souls that baptism makes christians. 
Men do this, too, who hold up both hands in holy horror at 
baptismal regejieration. One is theory and the other prac- 
tice, the other practice the more effectual of the two." 

One item we must not omit relative to christian charac- 
ter. " Among the gratifying things of this year has been 
the contribution to the Lord by our children in tithes, grain 
and special offerings. It is now one year and nine months 
since the boys and girls began systematic giving to God. 
In these twenty-one months their contributions have 
amounted to Rs. 66- 13-2, or an average of more than ten 
annas per capita per annum. To this amount we have in 
the year now closing added Rs. 40. The whole amount, 
Rs. 106-13-2 has been distributed between several Indian 
Missions and the Transit Fund." 

Our faith ana courage is well put in the following : — 

" He is infinitely more willing to feed and keep us here 
than to have these benighted heathen left without a hope 
of the Gospel of Christ. As we see the past now, we have 
sometimes been legitimate enthusiasts, expecting ends 
without due use of means. In our haste we had thought 
long ere this to have been out itinerating, and yet we were 
not ready, nor could the orphan work have spared us. Our 
enthusiasm has at times desired a strong corps of imported 



64 OUR WORK. 

missionaries in the field about us, but we close this year 
with a calm but forcible conviction that the good Lord will 
not give us more than a few necessary pioneer helpers. 
We believe we are to be confined to the use of indigenous 
help almost wholly. Our orphanages are our schools of 
the prophets, and God will also raise up helpers from those 
to be converted. Our progress on this line may be slow 
for some time, but of the ultimate and glorious certainty 
of the conversion of thousands to God in this field we have 
not a doubt or fear. To be sure the future we do not 
know, but we believe the Lord is leading us on a line glo- 
riously practicable in the hands of converted heathen when 
we are in our graves." 

Our receipts this year was a little above the previous 
years. But it must be remembered we had increased our 
Eurasian or East Indian orphan work with ten orphan r . 
Our total receipts were about Rs. 5,000 and expenditures a 
little under. 

We wish we could give some items of the providences of 
the commencement of this last-named orphan work which 
God led us to begin, supplied the means and gave new 
workers for. 

No one long in India, can fail to know the pitiful condi- 
tion of many hundreds of Eurasian children found in all 
localities where Europeans have trodden. Looked down 
upon by Europeans who of all others by blood ties (though 
this thought is hardly palatable to many) are bound to do 
somewhat for this very class, scorned by natives in too 
many instances, their lot is sad. Thus neglected, they form 
a tremenduous stumbling-block to gospel work in India, 
yet rescued, saved, sanctified and anointed by the Holy 
Ghost, they make us grand workers, acclimatized and armed 
with the language. The special work of caring for and 
teaching these Eurasian orphans has fallen upon Sister 
Ward most of the year, and latterly upon Sister O'Leary. 



OUR WORK. 65 

Of this work we cannot say better than Bro. Marrett has 
done in what we now insert. He says: — 

Premoor, January 31, 1882. 

" My heart is too full. I cannot say enough, and yet I 
hardly know where to begin or stop. The Lord be praised 
for all that is being done in the Christian Home. Eight 
orphans have been saved for Jesus. Blessed holy name! 
Sister Ward, being away, Sister O'Leary attends largely 
to this department of the work here. The general routine 
of the work is about as follows : — After morning prayers, 
with all the other orphans, seated on a mat, they are helped 
to a morning repast, a blessing on which is asked by one 
of their- number. This over, school opens under Sister 
O'Leary's eye. While sewing, she hears their lessons. 
For the short time the}* have been studying, the progress 
is great. Little Henry and Richard, picked up in the 
streets by Brother Davis and myself, are doing remark- 
ably well. Henry could then hardly read in the primer, 
the latter scarce at all. Now both read Royal readers and 
bibles. Little Peter, about three years old, knows every 
letter in the alphabet, ask him as you may. School lasts 
till about 11 a. m. ; then comes breakfast and family prayer. 
In the afternoon comes the daily general meeting, and 
their family prayer in the evening. There are not want- 
ing signs of a good work begun in these little ones. They 
are trying to be good and in their little prayers they ask 
for clean hearts. I see by the Diary, that the Lord ha 
given the Home, funds in abundance all along, and the cry 
now is, Lord send us more little ones: we want them as jewels 
for thy crown" 

Wm. Marrett. 

Thus within three years, the Lord had led us out into 
our work, showed us how He could and would manage the 
money part of it, if we were wholly in His will and way, 
and placed in our hand about as many souls as Jacob took 
to Egypt, and abundantly blessed us in body and soul and 



66 OUR WORK. 

enabled us to turn nearly threescore souls from heathen 
darkness into the light of the glorious gospel of the Son 
of God. 

As the year drew to a close we were getting altogether 
again. In the reunion of our forces there came a lesson 
we feel like giving here. 

Sister Ward came from Bangalore, where she had en- 
joyed great kindness from many friends, worth not far short 
of Rs. 200, to Pramoor, arriving March 2nd with Wesley 
Asbury and William Taylor. As I was returning with her 
we had at Hyderabad a peculiar trial of faith. We were 
to leave Hyderabad February 22nd, but twenty-four hours 
before the time fixed for our start, we learned the coach 
Bro. Marrett was lending us was broken down. Added to 
this we had been several days without a rupee, being at 
once without road expenses or money for what seemed 
necessary purchases. After looking several days for 
money, without receiving it, we decided to start for Pre- 
moor in poverty if need be. Now when the coach was 
broken, we felt certainly the Lord was guiding. Well the 
next day, the very day we had intended starting, a letter 
came from Major Nesbit of Simla with Rs. 100 for us. 
This timely friend was an utter stranger to us, but prob- 
ably not to God. We were so filled with thankfulness and 
praise we could say little else, but " Wonderful!" " Praise 
Ihe Lord! ' ' We made needful purchases and set out for 
Premoor. We brought with us from Bangalore two. more 
E. I. orphans, making the total number in the "Christian 
Home," ten. We glorify God for setting us out on the 
line of a faith mission. Pie can halt us in ten days at most 
any time if we step aside on any but his line. Does any ask : 
"Are you ever anxious?" We answer, "No." We are 
more sure of what we need than if the best bankers in the 
world were pledged to back us. God Almighty, whose all 
the world is, hath sent us. This probably being the last 
year of schooling for many of our children, we propose to 



OUR WORK. 67 

spend 1882 principally teaching them. Having no good 
teacher, we are doing the instructing ourselves with the 
help of the most advanced, who teach and study. 



CHAPTER III. 

ADVANCE STEPS. 1882 

Early in April, 1882, a theerthum, or fair, occurred in 
honor of some old sinner, deified and called "Nurswamy." 
Below is an account of our first outing : So on the evening 
of April 3rd, being moonlight, we loaded the tent and set 
•out with Patcha, Nursa, Beema, Rama and Hoossainy for 
the scene. By midnight we had our tent pitched beneath 
a big banyan tree in the midst of sleeping hundreds, who 
were gathered for the opening of the festival. We found 
no place at first, but regarding the banyan tree the proper 
place for ourselves we got the tent pole fixed, and began 
to string our tent strings over sleeping people, and fixed 
the ends beyond. But as they roused and found themselves 
in a fair way to be in the shade of our tent, they voluntarily, 
much to our good pleasure, moved away, and gave us the 
spot. When our tent was pitched we went out to survey 
The field. We found men, women and children over the 
ground everywhere by the thousand, while here and there 
dancing-girls and tricksters were keeping a few hundreds 
awake. The following morning we began work by open- 
ing little stands for selling scripture portions and tracts. 
We had good success, and sold, between Tuesday morning 
and Wednesday evening, about 900 portions and tracts, 
and gave away some 400 hand-bill tracts. Our cash receipts 
were Rs. 4-0-0. We were courteously treated, and many 
displayed eagerness to get tracts and books. We found it 
easier to sell than to give away. When we offered tracts 
free, the people seemed to suspect us of some sinister 



68 OUR WORK. 

scheme, and very many would utterly refuse to touch them 
through fear. But when we sold, the. people took the books 
and tracts with confidence and read them. 

We did not have much faith, for we feared any attempt 
at open preaching - would be met with violence. But as we 
moved among these idolators and bore our testimony for 
Christ we met nowhere the slightest molestation. Every- 
body seemed to act as though they thought we had a per- 
fect right to do what we came for. We came away sorry 
we had not taken the field for preaching. We ascended 
the hill and conversed with the priests of the temple, who 
treated us civilly, but showed no disposition to accept the 
testimony of Christ. In the temple we saw piles of rice and 
other grains, cocoanuts and a box well filled with rupees 
and dubs. There were not less than 15,000 people from not 
less than thirty villages within a radius of ten miles from 
Bed j inky at this festival. We took a few notes while on 
the ground. Twenty-five liquor-sellers, thirty-four bangle- 
sellers, twenty sellers of caste mark colors, 140 bunyahs 
with all sorts of wares, four dancing-girls, four tricksters 
and two female tumblers, with an almost uncountable host 
of all sorts of musical beggars, did, or seemed to be doing, 
a good business from beginning to end of the festival. We 
reckoned 15,000 people left in Nurswamy's temple in 
rupees, dubs and grain, Rs. 1,000; liquor dealers got at" 
least Rs. 100; musical beggars, dancing-girls, etc. Rs. 50; 
and other traders got not less than Rs. 1,500; all this, 
nearly Rs. 3,000, from a people who can't support the gos- 
pel ! Forsooth, it would have built a school-house in every 
village represented by the crowd. 

During the month of April seventy-one souls of us lived 
upon Rs. 66, or a little over three-fifths of an anna per 
day, per capita, yet our health was never better. 

It is strange indeed that in things concerning our highest 
interests we need to be so often stirred up in mind. This 
trial of which we have given notes heretofore was a gentle 



OUR WORK. 69 

reminder from God to bring our souls down to the due feel- 
ing, interest and responsibility in our work. We had need 
of being brought to a momentary faith concerning all our 
spiritual and temporal needs. 

We saw the lesson God was trying to teach us, and 
began to praise God for the mercy of the trial about the 
1 st of May. 

All during the month of May this trial lasted. A glorious 
sequel came; the trial lasted from March 1st to May 27th, 
eighty-seven days, when we received $100 from one Rev. 
Mcllwain, of America, through Dr. Reid, secretary of the 
M. E. Missionary Society. This, with some other items, 
more than cleared us past June 1st in 1882. By reckoning 
up we believe the 17th day of April, when in special 
prayer we received a wonderful assurance that help was at 
hand, Bro. Mcllwain started his $100. 

Early in June, Miss Ruth Freer, another Eurasian young 
lady from Madras, joined us in Premoor, and took up her 
special work in the midst of the Christian Home Eurasian 
orphans. 

She said of the dealings of the Lord with her : — 

I heard the word of the Lord saying, ''Whom shall I 
send, and who will go for us to-day?" Then said I, " Here 
am I, send me." Isa. vi. 8. For a whole year after I was 
brought into the clear light of God's love and had conse- 
crated myself to the Lord and His work, I was longing to 
be out in His vineyard. The dear Lord made me feel the 
burden of souls. The wonderful way in which He rescued 
me as a brand from the burning, made me more anxious to 
tell others that they may share a like blessing. Although 
I was doing a little, a very little, for my dear Master in 
Perambore, yet I longed to be out. The thought often im- 
pressed me that I had to witness for my Saviour among the 
heathen, and now, glory to His name ! He called me right 
out among them when He called me here. I received my 
call to this work in March. I was written to by Bro. Moore, 



7o OUR WORK. 

who had known me some little time. He wished to know 
if I was willing to follow the leadings of the Lord in a 
" faith mission " to work for His glory. I felt this was a 
direct call from God though it came through a man. How 
gladly did my heart respond, "Here am I, send me ! " How 
wonderfully did the Lord clear away all the obstacles, 
make every crooked path straight and lead me into the 
Telugu mission ! Ever since I came to this delightful place, 
June 6th, 1882, my soul has grown stronger and my faith 
firmer in him who doeth all things well. Well may. I say 
with the Psalmist, ' ' The lines have fallen to me in pleasant 
places." All I desire is to be faithful. The work here de- 
lights my heart, for truly the Lord is in this place. I felt 
this when I first put my foot in Premoor. My heart burns 
with love for these dear children, black or white; for our 
souls are all alike, and the Lord is no respecter of persons. 
Glory to His name ! I feel that the Lord has a great blessing 
in store for us. These children are to be witnesses for 
Him, they will come rejoicing bringing sheaves. This is 
the Master's work and therefore must prosper. Bless the 
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy 

name! 

Ruth C. Freer. 

Our prayer for help was now about to be more liber- 
ally answered than we had dared to expect at so early a day. 
The Lord now intended that we should push out and go 
directly into missionary work among the heathen about us. 
Our trials were more than ordinarily severe, but we can 
now look back and see that the lord wanted us all, 
and especially owv new workers, to learn to trust in God, 
and not in the leader of the mission. 

July 23, 1882, Bro. D. O. Ernsberger, sent to India by 
William Taylor, on funds raised by our India Methodist 
Watchman, reached us. He came especially to prepare for 
the work in the Canarese districts of the western part of 
the Nizam's dominions. 



OUR WORK. 71 

Brother Ernsberger was front North Indiana Conference 
and gave the following account of his coming to India : 

"The Conference convened April 5th, 1882; being 
recommended and having past my examination I was 
admitted on trial. On the second day of the confer- 
ence, William Taylor arrived with a big box of his books. 
The following day at 4 p. m. he preached, after which he 
sold his books. He had said nothing about missionaries 
yet, i. e., that he wanted any. The next day he lectured 
on his principles of missionary work. Still he said nothing 
about wanting men, neither had I any thought of going, 
since there was no opening. That night, after an anniver- 
sary of some kind, Brother Taylor was asked to speak. He 
spoke on the subject nearest his heart, the salvation of the 
heathen, but turned round to sit down without saying any- 
thing about wanting men. Just then a good D. D. sitting 
near him, pulled his coat-tail and asked him to tell some- 
thing of the dangers connected with missionary work. He 
turned round, saying at the same time, that except one 
time when two men drew their guns on him, the greatest 
danger he had found was that of eating too much. He 
then went on to say that in some of the fields in which his 
missionaries were laboring, there were some wild animals, 
such as tigers, panthers, and the like, and that they were 
all fat. Then he said that the money had been raised in 
India and sent him for the passage of a man, to found a 
mission in a district of that country containing half a mil- 
lion souls, and that the man who undertook the work must 
be willing to 'rough it,' living in the jungle among these 
fat tigers and panthers. He closed by saying to the con- 
ference that if they had such a man, to send him on. The 
congregation was dismissed, but I remained in my seat. 
The promise I had made to the Lord came to my mind, 
' Here is an opportunity, a way opened, now will you go 
or not?' This question had to be settled light there. 
Those last words of Jesus came to me, 'Go . . . preach to 



72 OUR WORK. 

every creature.' So I went forward to where Bro. Taylor 
was and offered myself. Having consulted my P. E. he 
decided to take me. This was about the 8th of April. On 
the 15th of May I bade my father farewell and started for 
4 India's coral strand.' Aftet a prosperous journey of a 
little more than two months, I arrived at Premoor. Here 
I found Bro. and sister Ward, sisters O'Leary and Freer, 
busy and happy in the work. I received a warm welcome 
from all. Praise God for his providence and care in thus 
bringing and settling me down in the midst of the heathen. 
A.gain I say, 4 'Praise the Lord !" 

D. O. Ernsberger. 

Bro. Ernsberger was a help to the faith of us all in those 
days, and God took good care his faith should not be 
builded upon us. 

Surely no five months of our history ever gave such 
bounties as these. 

July was a month of affliction to many among us. ■" In- 
dian sore eyes ! " Every boy and girl in the " Christian 
Home " had them; then Wesley Asbury and William Tay- 
lor, then their mother and father, and later most of the 
native folks, and sister O'Leary. The memory of that 
scourge is still vivid. 

Our outing at the fair at Redginky was the beginning of 
aggressive work all about us more or less regularly from 
that on. Miss O'Leary began regular work among the 
women of the villages near us, and her success was most 
encouraging from the very outset. Between times she and 
myself worked on a series of tracts in purely scripture 
language, to make use of Rs. 50 that had been sent us by 
Bro. Gladwin. We entitled one " Who is Jesus?" another 
"God," another "The Spirit," and another " Come to 
Jesus." We had 5,000 printed. These Telugu tracts we 
scattered for the healing of the nations about us. 

Bro. Ernsberger was housed in a hut twelve by fourteen 
feet, put up by the boys and myself, and walls plastered by 



OUR WORK. 73 

the girls, costing, if it had been paid for, perhaps one rupee, 
as we built it for nothing, just high enough for him to 
stand up in. He takes the hut in good part, and seems 
happy in the humblest house he ever lived in. He seems 
to be a man God has prepared and called to be a faith mis- 
sionary of a radical, faithful stamp. His plan is to stay 
with us about a year and study Canerese, and then with 
half a dozen of our orphan boys and girls, go to open his 
Canarese mission. 

August 24, 1882, Bro. Frank J. Blewitt arrived in our 
camp on horse-back with fiddle and banjo and a few other 
"traps." He had been a local preacher in Lahore, but 
feeling called of God came, at his own charges, to join us 
on our principles, 2000 miles. He possessed rare talents 
for singing and playing, and knowing Hindustani became 
at once a valuable helper. 

Of himself he gave the following account : 

" Woe is me if I preach not the gospel." I Cor., ix. 16. 
Ever since my conversion in 1874, I have had an unques- 
tionable conviction that I must preach the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. I have to confess with intense regret, that, not- 
withstanding that the above is the truth, I have to look on 
some very dark periods of my life in which. I quenched the 
blessed Spirit and was altogether unfaithful to him who 
did and was doing so much for me, and was calling me to 
so noble a cause and work. 

It was not, however, till December 31, 1881, the dear 
Lord in his mercy and goodness having showed me I must 
quit friendship with the world and self and follow him, 
that I was enabled to do so by his grace ; and this day I 
am a monument of his grace and saving power. Glory to 
Jesus ! In the early part of this year I attended camp meet- 
ing at Futtepur, near Allahabad, where the Lord blessed 
me beyond anything I had ever experienced. It was 
there the spirit whispered again to me in tones of love, 
' Have you no souls to save? ' I felt ashamed to face the 



74 OUR WORK. 

sad fact that tip to that time I had not given much thought 
to my fellow creatures and the awful condition of their 
immortal and precious souls. But the time had come. I 
must act. No more evading the question. I clearly saw 
my work was among the natives of India. Glory to God 
for it ! 

On my return to Lahore, where I was in charge of the 
Lawrence school, I procrastinated no more, but struck 
out — though I must confess with some fear, trembling and 
misgivings of my ability as in the case of Jeremiah, (Jer. 
i. 6) — into Hindustani work. 

" ' How ready is the man to go, 

Whom the Lord hath never sent; 
How timorous, diffident and slow. 

God's chosen instrument.' 

The more I labored the more my desire to go on. I 
acquired soon a very great love for the work, and 'I felt 
nothing in this world could satisfy me better. In June last, 
the Holy Spirit showed me clearly I should give up secular 
employ and give myself wholly to my Master's work. I 
communicated my convictions or leadings to my pastor, 
Bro. Shaw. He advised me to go to ' Bro. Ward's Faith 
Mission.' I at once wrote Bro. Ward I was ready to join 
him on a moment's notice. Fifteen days past and I had 
no reply. I then determined to throw in my lot with 
Christ and work independently of any earthly help, except 
the companionship of a native christian who volunteered 
to accompany me in the l faith work ' I had planned. I was 
to trust in the dear Master's promises. Even so hath he 
ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of 
the gospel (i Cor. ix. 14), and " Lo, I am with you always, 
even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii, 20; Rom. 
viii. 31, 32) I closed school and sold off nearly all my 
earthly goods, and made ready for a move. I and my 
native christian friend had decided to work in the Dal- 
housie hills in the summer months, and in the Gurdaspur 



OUR WORK. 75 

district for the winter, as our life work for Jesus. We 
desired to set out July 6, 1882. July 3d a letter came 
from Bro. Ward. He asked me a few questions instead of 
saying, "Come on," as I had expected and longed for. I 
answered all the queries and left the result with the Lord* 
Divine providence frustrated my plans to set out on the 
6th. My brother-in-law wrote me a letter which called 
me away from Lahore that very day to Sealkote. God 
enabled me to say amen to this bitter disappointment. But 
it was the Lord's doing. In those days of my stay in Seal- 
kote the Lord reversed the current of my feelings and 
schemes, and on July 31, 1882, I set out from Lahore for 
Bro. Ward's ' Faith Mission.' As I traveled, I prayed the 
Lord to keep me from mistakes and to stay my progress 
on the way if I was not needed in the Deccan. At Nee- 
much, Bombay and Chadarghat I was pressed to go no 
further but settle down and work among christian breth- 
ren. But God so guided that I could not do other than go 
straight forward without turning either to the right or left, 
till I reached this my village home, August 24, 1882, where 
I met a hearty welcome, and soon felt at home with all 
and everything. How I do rejoice and praise my dear 
Redeemer who so wonderfully and graciously called me 
to this particular branch of his work, to be an envoy for 
Christ to this benighted people." Frank J. Blewitt. 

Now our circumstances were such that the Lord had 
some difficulty in teaching us easily all those things neces- 
sary to our line of work " non-subsidy." 

Our eyes were so unopened that the good Lord alone 
could have shown us his ways. Human teachings coming 
to the same end to which God led us would have certainly 
been resented from honestly held convictions. Jesus 
Christ who took so much pains to teach the first mission- 
aries he sent out, took no less pains to teach all these new 
workers that faith in Ward or his schemes was folly, not 
even being equal to ordinary "bread and butter." 



76 OUR WORK. 

Then, again, we had held all the years of our christian 
life, strong views upon the subject of "clergymen secu- 
larizing." When in school in the beautiful town of Evans- 
ton, near Chicago, we came to know of a score or more 
ex-ministers who, because of "ill-health," could not do 
the ordinary work of a preacher, and had engaged in real 
estate, railroad bond or board of trade speculation. We 
had very hard work to keep from concluding these gentle- 
men were never "called," or they were traitors. But here 
I was with almost fourscore orphans on my hands, whom 
we did not desire to be reared on charity milk and meat. 
Yet we did not ask ourselves how this was to be done with- 
out some hard work on business lines. But all our preju- 
dices were flat against entering upon any business. We 
fully intended to be a " padri" always. We could not get 
the land we so much sought, for a colony, yet if we had 
secured this it had hardly come home to us that much 
secular work must be done by somebody. So here we 
were, and it took the Lord pretty much all of the first 
three-quarters of this fourth year, to get us unkinked and 
ready to lay down all our prejudices and do his will in his 
own way. Saying this much, perhaps they who now read 
can better interpret the following entry made by brother 
Ernsberger? 

October 16, 1882. " 'Knowing this, that the trying of 
your faith, worketh patience. ' This year beginning with 
March has been one of exceptional trial as to our 'daily 
bread. ' But especially has this been the case since July, 
when we were square with all men. Since that time small 
amounts have come in from time to time, an earnest of 
what was to follow, an evidence conclusive to us that ' the 
eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears are 
open unto their cry. ' The amounts received, however, 
have been inadequate to meet our necessary expenses. 
The grain merchant said he did not want his money for 
months yet, and when small amounts of money came to 



OUR WORK. 77 

hand, he did not ask for them, but continued to aver he 
did not want his money yet. As we have some personal 
property we urged him to take our bulls, cows, calves, 
goats, cart, and other effects as security for what we owed 
him ; he however would not take aught of these. As the 
trial waxed hotter and hotter it brought us to our knees in 
unusual heart-searching and supplication. We observed 
September 4th as a day of fasting and prayer. Beside 
ourselves about thirty of the children joined in this soul- 
humiliation before God. We were all greatly benefitted 
by this day's supplication and waiting. The chief object 
before us was to examine ourselves to see if there was any 
wicked way in us, ' for we knew that, ' if we regard iniquity 
In our hearts the Lord will not bear us. ' Our great con- 
cern is ever, not bread, but our spiritual condition as indi- 
viduals and as a whole. We are sure if our ways please 
the Lord we can claim all the precious promises ' as our 
own, for the ' exceeding great and precious promises ' are 
those 'who have escaped the corruption that is in the 
world' through lust. ' We were assured that the Lord of all 
the earth would do all things well, and would in His own 
good time and in His own way, supply all our need 'according 
to the riches of His glory by Christ Jesus. ' 

September was soon gone, but our tender and loving 
Father saw it good to test us still further by withholding 
supplies, except a few small tokens of His favor which 
showed us He was not altogether displeased with us. 
October came finding our eyes unto the Lord, as they per- 
haps had never been before. We did not know how He 
would deliver us, but we had the assurance in our hearts 
that deliverance would come. Eight more days past and 
we were not yet delivered. We could all say, however, 
'Praise ye the Lord.' We did not complain, for from past 
experience we had learned that the trial of our faith is 
'precious.' The Word declared the same as well; and 
while we were praying for deliverance we could just as earn- 



78 OUR WORK. 

estly and sincerely ask that if it would glorify His blessed 
name more to withhold deliverance a while longer that He 
would do so, giving us grace to bear the trial of His love. 
On the evening of the 8th inst. at our social meeting we 
discussed the possibility of cutting down our table expenses. 
We could see no way to reduce the diet of the children 
without cutting down the quantity, which we did not feel 
like doing. Up to this time we had been indulging in a 
few things we mutually agreed we could dispense with. 
One suggested the wheat, another the rice, another jaggery^ 
another the oil, which is our custom to use instead of ghee 
in cooking, being equally good and much cheaper ; another 
the milk, etc., till we had made reductions of about Rs. 7 
per week on our table. This left us jowarree with vege- 
table curry, the vegetables being furnished us by the chil- 
dren. We say jowarree was left us, but for several days 
the children lived on the Indian corn raised in our boys' 
field. When our jowarree ran out, we all took to this 
diet, as we had decided to buy nothing more without pay- 
ing for it, except under the most urgent necessity. On 
this Indian corn we all lived well for a week, and we were 
more thankful for this than we had been in other days for 
' sumptuous living. ' A very little food seasoned with 
grace and a healthy appetite is much to be preferred to 
luxuries without these. Praise God ! Life does not con- 
sist in the abundance of things that a man hath, neither 
are we to live ' by bread alone, but by every word that 
proceedeth out of the mouth of God. ' We have learned 
that our real temporal wants are few in this life and easily 
supplied. Glory to God for the lesson. On the 14th of 
October, Sister O'Leary returned from Hyderabad. It 
pleased the Lord to send us deliverance by her to the 
amount of more than Rs. 500 in various shapes and from 
various sources. A friend, Rs. 100; A. C. D., Rs. 25; H. 
Longhridge, Rs. 7; C. O. L., Rs. 20; Wm. Taylor, Rs. 7- 
8-0; J. N., Rs. 5; W. J. G., Rs. 10; Mr. Freer in books, 



OUR WORK. 79 

Rs. 35; A. L., Eye-Salve, Rs, 8; Ellichqur parcel, Rs. 15; 
Magic Lantern from W. B. O. and wife, Rs. 75, clothing 
Rs. 10; a parcel Rs. 20; A. D., Rs. 10, corn, Rs. 15; and 
the promise of Rs. 300 following by post which Brother 
Davis had, without consulting us, borrowed. He did it, 
however, on the strength of an expectation that we would take 
up a contract of road-work which Brother Marrett had some 
time previous to this offered us for the employment of the boys 
and girls. As it came without our asking it in any way, 
through Brother Davis, we received it as from the Lord 
with grateful hearts. . 

The Monday previous to this had been a day of fasting 
and prayer, so we thought it fit and proper, that the day 
after this remarkable deliverance should be observed as a 
day of thanksgiving and praise. Accordingly the children 
were called together early with hearts tuned to the praise 
of our Great Deliverer. Prayer and praise meetings were 
the order of the day among us, and among the children, 
and right heartily could we engage in them, with all the 
recent wonderful dealings of the Lord vividly before us. 
We seemed as if eating bread from the very hand of our 
faithful Father. ' Truly the righteous cry and the Lord 
heareth and delivereth them out of their troubles. ' Praise 
the Lord." 

Thus God — against all our preconceived notions — led us, 
though z.padri, into secular work so-called, to save our chil- 
dren from pauperdom by theoretically and actually teach- 
ing them how and that they should take care of themselves 
and more. For nearly four years we had been making inef- 
fectual efforts to get land for an orphan or mission colony. 
We found ourselves fully proscribed and could get no 
entrance anywhere. Yet believing God led us to the Telugu 
people we held on. When one place had to be vacated God 
showed other fields to harbor us. So after months of con- 
sideration and prayer, believing it to be the way God was 
pointing out to us and forcing us to take in the material and 



8o OUR WORK. 

eternal interests of our orphans, we decided to take a ' 'con- 
tract," and thus employ the children till we could get land, 
which we vainly fancied would be in about six months. Out 
contract was ■ ' the construction of five miles of public road- 
way alongside the railway near Lingumpully Station." 

November 5, 1882. Bro. Ernsberger baptised three 
more who gave good evidence of conversion. Nearly a 
month later one of the girls died, soundly saved, at Bro. 
Marrett's in Hyderabad. A good work of grace cheered us 
among the East Indian orphans, and several of them were 
added to "the church," as we thought they had been to 
Christ before. On this occasion we ended a good meeting 
with the Lord's supper. 

Fifty-six of us partook to the exceeding comfort of our 
souls that night in the open air, beneath the shade of the 
tamarind tree. Our tabernacle not made with hands, deserves 
special mention. Just near our door stood two very large 
tamarind trees of the Lord's planting. Beneath the shade 
of one we cleared a little spot and spread it with clean sand. 
Here for two years we worshipped, held our bands, school 
and other meetings. Even in the rainy season we have sel- 
dom been prevented from holding our services or daily 
prayers here. Frequently damp ground has made us Pres- 
byterians enough to stand during prayer. 

Only in the days when the books are opened will it be 
.known how much the Indian Methodist Watchman became 
woven into the very fibre of our work. 

Though we have made mention of the Watchman but few 
times in this report, yet month by month it has been an 
indispensable adjunct to our work. Through it we give our 
testimony to hundreds in this country and in America every 
month, and many are stirred up to pray for, and aid in 
God's work among the heathen in India. We are left no 
room to doubt that the Watchman is doing a great and good 
work in India. On the 4th of November we received a letter 
from one who has made almost every mission and good 



OUR WORK. 81 

cause in India debtor to his christian beneficence, offering 
to place at our disposal Rs. 120, per month, for each month 
of 1884, to be used in aiding such men as are purely and 
wholly engaged in native work. How we blessed the 
Lord for this! We meant to use this to help other 
workers not of our faith mission band, as for this very 
purpose we had been praying for money. Here was the 
answer. 

We must note another answer to very much praying. I had 
assumed Rs. 500 of the Bellary church debt; and now by 
the generosity of a " friend of God " we are able to pay it 
off to the last pie. We found it harder work to get money 
for this bad debt in answer to prayer than for any other 
purpose ever demanded in our life. But bless the Lord for 
the relief and experience ! We need no more experience in 
the church-debt-making- line, this side of glory. We are 
fully persuaded God does not want his tabernacles built 
with borrowed money, Free will offerings built the one he 
gave Moses plans for. It is a very bad way to trust God to 
go into debt for a church. Just after the closing up of this 
Bellary church debt experience, " Muller's Life of Trust" 
came into our hands, and faith to trust God implicitly for 
all things and always was wonderfully confirmed. 

Still suffering severely with my eyes, I went into Hyder- 
abad during the month of October to get away from 
books letters, etc., etc., and give my poor, three months 
afflicted eyes a chance to get well. I have not strong eyes, 
having had inflammation of the eyes severely some fourteen 
years ago. I, at times, feared the end of this affliction. But 
the Lord heard my prayer, and gave me my eyes again. 
While at Hyderabad I was also to settle about the contract 
work. 

We secured the contract of reconstructing five miles of 
road near Lingumpully, Nizam's State Railway, less than 
twenty miles from Hyderabad. After settling all the details 
of this contract I returned to Premoor. 



82 OUR WORK. 

It was decided that Bro. Ernsberger and I should go to 
Lingumpully with the orphans, and carry out the contract 
of road making. We planned to walk the journey of about 
ioo miles in easy marches of twelve or fifteen miles per 
day. We took along one cart for luggage and any who 
might fall faint. This marching column left Premoor on 
the 6th of November, leaving the three sisters and Brother 
Blewitt to do garrison duty. Friday, the nth, found us 
seventy-five miles on our way at Secunderabad. At Sidde- 
pett I received a letter containing a Rs. 50 check from 
Roy Bareilly, sender's name not decipherable. We blessed 
God for it. At Father Wales' place in Bolarum we were 
entirely out of money. We asked Father Wales to advance 
us something on the check. He declined to do this, but 
gave us Rs. 25 for the Lord's work. Praise to God came 
up from the bottom of our hearts. Bro. Loughridge, of the 
Baptist mission, housed us all for the night. He spoke to 
the children a few words which they appreciated. 

The following day all the children with myself took train 
for Lingumpully and slept that night in the verandah of, 
and in front of Bro. Marrett's Bungalow, and occupied a 
shed as well. The following day we took up our camp on 
the bund of a small tank a little way off, where we spent 
our first week in Lingumpully, as all arrangements about 
work were not yet complete and our tents were not yet 
erected. 

December 1 7th we concluded to do a little work for the 
Lord in the village near us, which supported about thirty 
liquor shops. Our plan was to take as many of the boys 
and girls as would volunteer to go to the village to sing, 
pray, testify, exhort, pray and come back singing. God 
much encouraged us in these our first efforts at village or 
bazaar work. But as we look back at them, those efforts 
were feeble indeed, yet we were blessed, as were the chil- 
dren. To Bro. Ernsberger is due the credit for precipi- 
tating this commencement- It was a thing meditated, but 



OUR WORK. 83 

when? Bro. E. said, " why not now? " And, bless God, 
we began. We were anxious to see a band of workers 
developed from our orphans. This little village work 
most emphatically settled the how of that development. 
Those workers must be developed in work by our side; not in 
schools or clergy manufactories . 

While we were waiting for orders to start the road work, 
we got up a tent loaned us by Bro. J.J. Ottley and erected 
some small huts for the orphans, and otherwise made our- 
selves comfortable. 

Sunday, November 26th, I read almost the whole of the 
"Valley of Baca," by Jennie Smith. It is the most won- 
derful book I ever read. There seems nothing wonderful 
or pathetic about it, but to save my life I could not read 
with dry eyes. This book does not say so, but I have 
learned that Jennie Smith was healed in 1876 of a most 
dreadful affliction of sixteen years standing, and has since 
been an Evangelist and blessed in leading nearly 5,000 
railway people to Christ. The account of her healing is 
given in "Baca to Beulah," a wonderful book also. Two 
such books of any kind I have never read. They lay fast 
hold on the tenderest place in my heart whenever I read. 
Why is it? 

Though we began work on the road November 29th, yet 
as many of the children suffered from colds and fever we 
did little wcrk until after New Years. 

Thus while one branch was at work at Lingumpully 
the other was busy at Premoor and surrounding villages. 
Bro. Blewitt did no little evangelistic work. The magic 
lantern, his banjo and violin made him a crowd almost 
anywhere he went. Several orphans, and now and then 
some of the other workers, accompanied him .to the vil- 
lages. 

We have much reason to thank the Lord for putting it 
into the heart of Sister Osborne to send us her magic lan- 
tern all the way from Australia. It is just the thing a 




«* £■ 



L^ 




OUR WORK. '85 

missionary to the heathen can make good use of. The 
illustrations greatly aid the poor heathen, with such spirit- 
ually blinded vision, to understand the truth. 

We must not forget to note that this magic lantern was 
an answer to prayer. A few months before it came, we 
began to pray the Lord to send us one, or the money to 
buy it with. On one or two occasions I had exhibited the 
views to the children, in Premoor. A few of the Ullepur 
villagers saw the exhibition and gave their friends a 
glowing account of the sights. 

So in compliance with many requests, December 7th I 
stretched the sheet opposite Ullepur village and announced 
the exhibition they desired to see. We had about 130 
persons present. Some came from Mylarum and some 
were travelers encamped near by. We marched with all 
our orphans to the place singing as we went. Sister 
O'Leary had the explanations to make in Telugu. Sister 
Freer and myself exhibited the pictures. We varied the 
programme by occasional singing of a hymn. We were 
there fully two hours and closed the exercises by singing 
and prayer by Sister O'Leary. We had the most marked 
attention and silence throughout. The genuine interest 
of all was apparent. May God bless these feeble efforts 
to preach Christ to the heathen. 

F. J. Blewitt. 

December 8th. I, with two of the boys, set out for Cur- 
reemnugger, the headquarters of this revenue district, to 
tell of Jesus and his love. Curreemnugger is a very large 
village of probably 6,000 souls. The people are Moham- 
medans, Hindoos, Sikhs, Rohillas, Scindhies and Arabs. 
The Hindoos outnumber all others. Most of the men one 
meets in the streets are armed to the teeth with dangerous 
looking weapons, and move about in a very defiant [air. 
They are fond of music and listen to it with great attention, 
but can't bear to hear the gospel. We reached this place 
the same evening with the mission pony, having taken 



86 OUR WORK. 

turns in riding him. I had asked God to direct our steps 
and bless us in our undertaking. He did. Bless his name. 
We put up in the traveler's bungalow. My bhajans 
and banjo drew out two Hindus and one Mohammedan 
fellow traveler to our side. We kept up fire on them till 
about 9:30 p.m. The Lord abundantly blessed me to be 
bold in teaching them the way of righteousness. They took 
away with them Luke and Acts and some tracts in Urdu. 
May the God of Truth water this seed. The following 
morning I called on Mr. James Campbell, an engineer, and 
his brother. I was cordially welcomed and invited to their 
sumptuous table and their tent which they had kindly 
pitched for me. Notwithstanding all I had heard of the 
opposition the people of this place would bring agamst the 
preaching of the gospel, I ventured to stand boldly in 
the name of the Lord in the main street of the village, 
singing, praying and preaching to large crowds of people. 
I did the same the next day, and also on Sunday after prayer 
and fasting. Monday and Tuesday I preached in the same 
place morning and evening, looking up to Jesus all the 
while for protection, help and support, which I received. 
Instead of being killed, we found some who became our 
friends. The result of the four days siege was two in- 
quirers, both Mohammedans, one an old and one a young 
man. The Messrs Campbell were very kind to me and 
gave my helpers a blanket and me Rs. 10 besides entertain- 
ment. 

F. J. Blewitt. 

The following may be called holiday notes : 
January 1st, 1883. I, per request, exhibited the magic 
lantern in Mylarum. We had over 150 present, men, women 
and children. A Roman Catholic catechist explained the 
views in Telugu. Three of our orphans were with me to 
assist me and sing at intervals. May the Lord bless this 
the work of the 1st day of 1883. 

F. J. Blewitt. 



OUR WORK. 87 

At Lingumpully we did not observe Christmas, except 
to continue our work on the road. December 30th being 
Saturday, we dropped work and went into Hyderabad for 
a holiday. Bro. Ottley quartered us all in his house and 
compound. On the early morning of December 31st we 
met at the door of the Methodist church for prayer, and 
then marched singing to the Kotha Busty bazaar. We had 
hundreds of attentive listeners, and were blessed indeed. 
We repeated the exploit on the morning of the 1st also. 
In this exploit for Jesus, we were joined by a few of the 
Chadarghat brethren. On New Year's day Bro. Davis and 
Bro. Ottley took it upon themselves to feed, or, rather, 
feast the children. January 3rd we all returned to Lingum- 
pully for work. C. B. Ward. 

Sister O'Leary suffered a good deal and was not consoled 
when told by the doctor that she would be an invalid for 
one year at least. For some five years she had suffered 
with what seemed to be oncoming [spinal complaint. The 
complaint had reached a climax under the ravages of fever. 
Dr. Kees kindly undertook her case and philosophically 
began the process of blistering of the spine which would 
take, said the good doctor, some months, as it could only 
be done a little at a time. God let him have a four-inch 
blister and relieved him of the necessity of applying any 
more. She was visited by many friends, and among them 
were some who felt encouraged to pray for her speedy res- 
toration in answer to prayer. On the of January, 1883, 

Brother Jacobs, Brother Carter and Brother Moore, called 
to see her. While with her the question of her being 
healed at once in answer to prayer, came up. Brother 
Jacobs inquired of her if she was all paid up, i. e. , whether 
she had any vows to God unfulfilled or was conscious of 
any derelictions of duty to God or man. Sister O'Leary 
confessed frankly she had neglected to deliver her soul in 
the case of her own sister. Bro. J. enforced upon her the 
necessity of doing this unperformed duty at once, that with 



88 OUR WORK. 

good conscience she might ask for Christ's healing grace. 
She had to pray some time for grace to perform this long 
neglected duty. She received it and at once, confessed 
to her sister her neglect of her soul, and urged upon her 
sister her duty to yield herself to Christ at once. This 
being done the above mentioned brethren came in and 
joined her in prayer for immediate restoration to health, 
that she might be enabled to return to her Master's work. 
All prayed and some received assurance that the prayer 
was heard. But Sister O'Leary was not at the time raised 
up. But at about three o'clock the following morning God 
marvelously raised her up, completely, so far as any one 
could judge, curing her spinal complaint. She rose from 
affliction's bed and in a few days went on a visit to a 
brother's home in Raichore and later to Poona, and finally 
returned to Hyderabad and was married to Bro. Arnold 
Moore March 15, 1883. 

Early in February, in Lingumpully, we began special 
efforts to lead our boys and girls into the grace of entire 
sanctification and the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Bro. 
Jacobs was with us one day in the latter part of January. 
Somehow the work of leading these little ones into holi- 
ness seemed wonderfully simplified after that visit of Bro. 
Jacobs. We continued our village efforts, and in our own 
meetings by very simple incisive teaching and the exercise 
of a faith which looked for immediate results, endeavored 
to lead these little ones into perfect love. God blessed our 
efforts and during the month of February about a dozen 
persons intelligently and clearly entered the experience of 
entire sanctification. We were greatly encouraged in this, 
and the work was so genuine and clear. We were greatly 
comforted. For two years we had groaned for the sancti- 
fication of these lambs of God's fold. But somehow it 
did not come. I think the hindrance was, most probably, 
in our weakness of faith and want of incisiveness of teach- 
ing, preaching, praying and believing. 



OUR WORK. 89 

This month of February was one of the brightest months 
of our history, spiritually. But how malignantly did the 
adversary at once set about stopping the tide of salvation 
and rolling it back from those whom it had reached. We 
have observed this all through our history. A wave of 
glory always awakes the king of hell to turn out his most 
infernal designs for the overthrow of the work of God. 
Brother Blewitt writes of another move on . the enemy by 
the garrison "Glory to Jesus all is well with our souls.'* 
Our merchant gave us information of the Pullur Fair or 
Festival to take place on the 7th of February 1883. This 
place was twelve miles away from us and the fair was to 
last three days. 

We prayed much before going, inquiring of the Lord 
whether he considered us fit for this important adventure. 
Our cry was, " O Lord take us not thence if thou go not 
with us." The matter was put before all the children, and 
they were exhorted to pray for each worker and the work. 
We made the Sabbath previous to our start a day of fast- 
ing and prayer for the Pulloor and Lingumpully work. 
The second chapter of Acts, at the suggestion of Sister 
Freer was made the subject of study that day. Sistei 
Ward took up our work in addition to her own, during our 
Pulloor campaign. On the 6th inst. we set out for Pul- 
loor. We halted for a season at Koodoor, for breakfast. 
After our repast I got out the banjo, and began to play. I 
had scarce begun, however, when we were surrounded by 
attentive listeners, mostly women. Sister Freer talked to 
them, gathering her topics from the beautiful large pic- 
tures I continued to exhibit. The spirit of God was pres- 
ent. One old woman broke down weeping. She said: 
"O Amma, all you have been saying has made my heart 
glad, but alas, all will be lost as soon as you are gone. 
Oh that I could hold fast this happiness I now have." She 
was instructed to look away to and trust only in Jesus who 
was both willing and able to carry on the good work begun 



9 o OUR WORK. 

in her heart. An old man also was convicted of sin, and 
felt a drawing towards the way of life. On the evening 
of the 6th we entered Pulloor, and on the morning of the 
7th we were on the battle field. Though perfect strangers 
to the geography of the locality, we were wonderfully 
guided to pitch our camp right near the main road, lead- 
ing to the hill where rested the bones of the great god 
"Ramswamy." We soon had up our small tent, five by five 
by four feet, and the magic lantern sheet, and at once opened 
fire at midday. While I in company with Beema and 
Alice went up the hill to sing, preach and testify, Sister 
Freer remained in the camp to do the same with the other 
children. We then decided to carry on all our operations 
from our camp only, thus securing larger and larger atten- 
tion and avoiding the toddy drinking. At night we exhib- 
ited the magic lantern. For two hours Sister Freer amid 
all the din and noise explained the scenes. Fully five hun- 
dred people remained throughout the entire performance. 
We retired after an eleven o'clock dinner at near midnight. 
The second day of the festival was set apart for the women 
to make their offerings to ''Ramswamy." Men, women 
and children, there must have been quite ten thousand per- 
sons on the ground. Besides the worshipers of Ramswamy 
there were about three hundred Mohammedans present. 
The little company of six disciples looked not more than 
a drop in the ocean among such crowds. But glory to God, 
all was well. We preached all day with scarcely time to 
think about food. Nor were we hungry. Such is the pre- 
cious- service of Jesus. At night Ave had the magic lan- 
tern again with a smaller crowd than the night before. 
Many souls were awakened to "the truth and gave vent to 
their convictions publicly. Miss Freer affectionately 
exhorted them to turn away from dumb idols to serve 
the living God. In all our use of the magic lantern we 
began with prayer and singing and closed in the same 
way, having no faith in any means in and of themselves 



OUR WORK. 91 

to save souls. It is not by might nor power, saith the 
Lord, but by the spirit. "We closed at about 10 p. m., and 
were about to retire, when a large number of merchants 
came down from the hill to see what we were doing. W r e 
opened upon them at once, and kept it up till 11 p. m., 
while they sat down right around us in perfect silence, and 
seemed delighted with our Telugu and Hindustani hymns. 
Some went away with pierced hearts. Some twenty- nine 
of them gave Sister Freer a dub (one-fifth of a cent) each 
for the Lord's work. We then retired to our tents for 
dinner. Scarcely was dinner over when we heard the fir- 
ing of guns, the jingling of bells, the tramp of hoofs and 
the roll of carriages. L T p came a gay rider on horse back, 
inquiring if the gentleman was asleep. He was the Paish- 
kar of Siddepett, and had come eight miles to see the 
magic lantern of which he had heard. He had a large 
number of followers, and his torches grandly lighted up 
the scene. I informed the gay gentleman that he was too 
late. But he pressed his request and we turned out again 
to perform a little more for the Lord at that late hour of 
the night. W r e were not sorry of this opportunity of tel- 
ling them of Jesus, though under such peculiar circum- 
stances. 

On the third morning, after distributing two or three 
hundred handbill tracts free on the hill, we made ready to 
start home. We found it hard, however, to distribute free 
tracts. The people almost trampled upon us after tracts. 
Till the last day we gave away nothing. In the three days 
we sold some two hundred articles, realizing Rs. 3.4.0. 
The children played their part well. W 7 e could not have 
gotten on without them. In singing, praying, testifying 
and book-selling they were constantly active. We were 
sad for one thing only. A great many sick were brought 
to us for treatment. But alas, we had no medicines for 
them. " Ramswamy " is nothing more than a large stone 
figure* painted red and located in the center of an enclos- 



92 OUR WORK. 

ure, [to which is an entrance], built on a round monster 
rock. Close by is a natural reservoir, said to contain rain 
water. After bathing in and drinking this water, worship- 
ers march direct to the idol to present their pice and other 
offerings. [An unclean offerer must not offer. How true 
the idea if understood, that an unclean heart cannot wor- 
ship God. Alas, how many so-called christians understand 
this no better than the heathen. — C. B. W.] Two men 
stood, one on either side of Ramswamy, to receive the 
offerings for the poor old fellow. On this monster rock 
during those days were some three hundred improvised 
shops, besides fully fifty toddy (liquor) shops. We returned 
home Saturday full of joy and the shouts of victory. 

F.J. B. 

During the time we were making these advance steps in 
the latter part of 1883, General Phayre, of Mhow, made 
me the proposal that he would stand the support of one 
married missionary for purely native work at Rs. 120 per 
month for three years. He later consented to let me make 
propositions to Bishop Foster who held the conference in 
Calcutta in the month of January, 1884, calculated to lead 
out the conference into something more heroic in the way 
of undertaking the great work for which we are here in 
India. 

According to proposals I had made to conference, to give 
Bro. Jacobs Rs. 500, Bro. Robbins Rs. 500, and Secunder- 
abad native work Rs. 600, for purely native work from the 
Rs. 120 monthly to be entrusted to my disposal in 1883, 
Bro. J. was appointed to Canarese work in Bangalore, Bro. 
Robbins to Marathi work in Poona, and it was decided 
that native work should be opened in Secunderabad. Praise 
God that in any way we help promote the work of the Lord 
among the heathen. 

In the latter end of this, our fourth year of faith, we 
received the sum of $500 — H. S c Rs. 1,500, from a 
friend in America, for the publication of vernacular tracts. 



OUR WORK. 93 

We had for months been praying for money for this pur- 
pose, intending to use the same for the publication of tracts 
in Telugu, Canarese, Marathi or Hindustani. We finally 
fixed our request at Rs. 1,000, and the good Lord, as he 
always does, exceeded all our asking by giving us Rs. 
1,500 at once. Other gifts made the amount some Rs. 
1,650. Blessed be the name of the Lord, who so wonder- 
fully answers prayer for even us. 

So I was permitted to spend the last day of our Fourth 
Year of faith work in Premoor. It was a happy Sabbath 
indeed. In Premoor we made the following entry in the 
Premoor diary : ' l We find ourselves at new and wide 
open doors for more extended usefulness in India. We 
are filled with a sense, almost oppressive, sometimes, of 
the solemnity and importance of our work. We rejoice 
that God has called us, a little band, into the fellowship of 
faith and love among the heathen. God has wonderfully 
blessed us with one mind and faith, concerning our mis- 
sion policy and precious doctrine and experience of entire 
sanctification. Blessings and honor in the highest be unto 
God who hath called us poor unworthy creatures of the 
dust to be co-laborers with him in the salvation of the 
heathen." Our fourth year was our most remarkable one 
thus far, both in trials and blessings. God gave us sharper 
trials, more money, richer experiences, more work, 
grander opportunities and grace in this, than in any pre- 
vious year. 

We ended the year well off financially, with strong faith, 
fifty-nine native orphans, thirteen E. I. orphans and seven 
missionaries. We then said, "we have found an humble 
line of missionary life which we believe reaches the 
heathen and avoids many of the difficulties of missionary 
work in India. 

In the instruction of the children we had brought on 
neaily everyone to be able to read specially their bibles, 
and most of them to figure somewhat ; a little knowledge 



94 OUR WORK. 

of geography was imparted, but more than all else, much 
of the bible was opened up to them in oral teachings, 

The advance steps that marked this year's work was: 
(i) the addition of new workers. (2) the entering upon 
productive work with our orphans while we had as yet no 
land. (3) the entrance upon aggressive missionary work 
among the heathen. 



CHAPTER IV. 

LARGER UNDERTAKINGS FOR GOD. 

When I went to Premoor early in March, 1883, Bro. Erns- 
berger was left in charge at Lingumpully. He had some 
trials with the children. The wicked one tried by all the 
powers at his command to undo the blessed work of February. 
We were never more conscious of the bitter hatred of the 
enemy of souls than in those days. Infernal spirits seemed 
to come in swarms from the depths of hell to seduce them 
over and destroy the faith of those who had entered into 
the experience of entire sanctification. Dissatisfaction, de- 
ception, proposed mutiny, rumors that we were making 
lots of money off the children, attempts on the chastity of 
one, intentions to run away, etc., etc., were only a few of 
the desperate devices of the devil among the children. 
We however must say all this took place among the boys. 
So far as we knew, not one girl fell into any of the wiles of 
the adversary in those days of March. But of twenty-two 
boys, scarce half a dozen escaped of all. We came back to 
Lingumpully after having brought Sister Ward to Hyder- 
abad, to find the devil holding high carnival. We were 
astonished. We should not have been, but we were sur- 
prised, and we fear we did no^ undertake the dethronement 
of the adversary as we should have done. "Fasting and 
prayer" would have given us the victory under Jesus' cap- 



OUR WORK. 95 

taincy. But we, like many a military officer, underesti- 
mated the strength of the enemy to be dislodged. In our 
first attempt to restore christian order, we signally failed 
and Satan yet had the stronghold when I left for camp- 
meeting. But our old companion and fellow laborer, 
Bro. Davis, appeared on the field of battle just as I was 
Leaving and with fresh courage and a firm hand, undertook 
the capture of Zion. He succeeded. I returned in April 
to find the Lord God of Sabaoth ruling once more in our 
midst. Bro. Ernsberger and Bro. Davis had a mighty 
battle in my absence, but the Lord gave them the victory. 
In all our history we never had so unprecedented an attempt 
of the wicked one to overthrow the work of God among us 
as in this case. As February was the brightest month in 
our history, so March, 1883, was the darkest. But out of 
it all, the Lord delivered us and we lost but one boy. He 
left rather than to submit to righteous discipline. 

Of the trip to camp meeting with Sister Ward and the 
twins it will be well to make note. We happened at the 
time to have no large amount of money on hand, so we 
took simply enough to pay our way to the camp ground. 
The camp meeting was held in the beautiful grove at 
Lanoli, on the line between Poona and Bombay, Every- 
thing seemed to work in a tight harness for the first three 
days. There seemed altogether too much fear of some- 
thing irregular in the way of noise or very exact line 
drawing. But a few brethren spent a night in the woods 
praying and brought victory 'into camp with them at five 
o'clock in the morning. Bands were loosened. God 
poured out his Spirit and souls were saved. A few were 
sanctified. Altogether too few. And yet as many as 
could be expected. Too few preachers of entire sanctifi- 
cation in India, appreciated clearly enough the subject 
themselves, to lead many others into the experience. Na- 
tive work was an interesting feature of the camp meeting. 
Daily a service was held in the tent with a crowd gath- 



96 OUR WORK. 

ered in from the adjoining bazaar by means of a procession, 
with singing and instruments. Perhaps the most interest- 
ing feature of the meeting was the baptism of a native 
woman, who up to that time had never been with chris- 
tians, never been taught the bible, and yet she was mightily 
convicted of sin by the Holy Ghost and confessed all, 
accepted Christ, laying off about thirty articles of jewelry, 
some gold, some brass, some silver, some glass, and was 
clearly saved, and later was baptised in the large tent 
before a very large concourse of people. The word was 
preached, she heard, the Holy Ghost applied the word, she 
confessed, came out from the ungodly camp and livery, 
believed and was there and then saved, according to the 
scripture — without years of preliminary instruction. Bless 
God for the demonstration of the truth in the presence of 
the people. 

Notwithstanding our going to the camp meeting without 
money for our expenses on the ground or our return home, 
a trip to Bombay was on our plan. Day by day at the 
camp meeting we besought the Lord for needed funds. 
God gave us such peace in trusting we had not an anxious 
thought during the five days we were there. Yet, until the 
very last day no money came. On Monday night camp- 
meeting closed, Up to 5 p.m, we had no money and our 
plan was to go by that night's train to Bombay. At 5 p.m. 
Bro. Guest, a station master on the G. I. P. Railway, 
handed us Rs. 5 . The evening service was held, no more 
money yet. We could hardly see how the Lord was to de- 
liver us. But we staggered not. At the close of the even- 
ing service a procession was so arranged that each party 
was permitted to shake hands with every other person 
present. With others we began the hand shaking. As we 
shook hands with a lady she left us Rs. 5. A brother 
handed us Rs. 10. A sister directed a call at her tent door 
for Rs. 5. and a brother gave us Rs. 3, and so on in small 
amounts till before that hand shaking, not lasting fifteen 



OUR WORK. 97 

minutes, was over, we had over Rs. 40. How we praised 
the Lord. No one on the ground knew our moneyless con- 
dition except the Lord. He tested our faith to the end and 
then honored it. We went to Bombay and there a brother 
gave us Rs. 5 more ; thus all we needed was so fully and so 
wonderfully given to us. We reached Hyderabad having 
Rs. 4 in hand. 

Now we come to some new developments in our mission 
work. Our original plan had been, when we had made the 
proposals to conference, concerning Gen. Phayre's money 
that Bro, Arnold Moore should be appointed to our mission, 
and then between our forces we would provide for the open- 
ing of the Secunderabadpost. But for some reason or other 
this part of the scheme did not meet with favor. Brother 
Moore was not appointed to our work but to Secunderabad, 
and he was to open his own work, a thing that for several 
reasons he was not prepared to do at that time. He, how- 
ever, settled down in Secunderabad. But it soon became 
evident that he could do but little there under existing 
language disabilities, and the Presiding Elder authorized 
him to proceed to Premoor. This he did, and soon as could 
be after we arranged a working band for Secunderabad. 
Early in April Miss Hephy Freer wrote us she was led of 
the Lord to follow her elder sister into our mission and 
work. Bro. Ernsberger had for some time been suffering 
from fever, and it was thought that it would be best for 
him to go to Bangalore where he would have the combined 
advantages of a better climate and facilities for the study 
of Canerese in a Canerese country. For a time he became 
junior preacher there in the English work, and at the same 
time he did some native work in Canerese in conjunction 
with Bro. S. P. Jacobs. 

Contract work went on smoothly at Lingumpully, and 
after the fearful battles of March, God reigned among us in 
peace and the children all worked hard till the nth of May, 
when about all the work they could advantageously take 



98 ' OUR WORK. 

part in, was completed, and we decided on their return to 
Premoor for school, the remainder of the year. They were 
there on the work nearly six months. The experience was 
good for them, and we judge that the net profits on the 
work done by the forty boys and girls in these six months 
were fully Rs. 1,000, or more than enough to provide for 
all the orphans we have for the time mentioned. In all, 
about Rs. 5,000 of work had been executed, and there re- 
mained about Rs. 3,000 yet to do, which we purposed doing 
by coolies under our trusty Maistry, Lutchman — the most 
honest heathen or unconverted man we ever met — an almost 
christian. 

We shall ever thank God for the experience of those 
months at Lingumpully. We spent much time on the 
road among the children and coolies and among the very 
great benefits realized was the acquisition of the common 
colloquial Telugu. We learned Telugu without a teacher 
and endeavored to level down all we learned in the books 
by comparison in talk with the children's talk; but these 
months were better to us in the acquisition of the Telugu 
everybody can understand than all the books printed or 
teachers either. We stood in special need of six months of 
seminary work in view of the new work before us in Se- 
cunderabad. As we looked back over the six months' 
work we saw many mistakes made. But we had every 
thing to learn. We shall know better how to use the chil- 
dren if ever such work falls to us again and also how to 
do more work for God among the coolies employed. 

We ended our sojourn for work in Lingumpully with 
marrying, on the 12th of May, 1883, three couples of our 
orphans, who had made their own choice and had been 
engaged a long time. The marriages took place in Bro. 
Davis' tent in the presence of nearly fifty persons, nearly 
all natives. We made the following note of the affair at 
the time : — 

As these were the first christian marriages among our 



OUR WORK. 99 

orphans, the occasion was rather a state one. We prayed 
much that the occasion might be owned of the Lord. Our 
prayers were heard, and the occasion was all we could 

have hoped for we allowed the wedding ring, string or 

jewel idea to do for itself. None of the parties thought of 
it, and we left the matter in their forgetfulness, and joy- 
fully married them trinketless. Not a ring, string bangle, 
bracelet, or any thing else of the sort was seen upon their 
persons as they stood there before God and men to plight 
one to another their faith in wedlock. We watch the result, 
for everybody says something must be put on in case of 
the marriage of native women to save their character from 
aspersion. We do not believe it, and trust God in this 
matter to conserve His own glory. Each pair were fur- 
nished with a complete turnout of clothing and house- 
keeping furniture at a cost of about Rs. 18 per pair, and 
therewith they pass off our hands as far as support is con- 
cerned. 

We ended our last Sunday together in Lingumpully 
with the Lord's Supper, a solemn feast to our souls. 

We lost here in these last days one boy of whom we 
hoped much. Satan had made a thief of him as he did of 
Judas Iscariot. Repentance he manifested, but he was 
left with Bro. Davis and soon fell utterly out of all hopeful 
ground. 

May 19th, we all returned to Premoor having walked the 
sixty-six miles comfortably in four days. Our welcome 
home was enthusiastic. Talk of the sacrifices of life in 
India. One hour like our welcome home outweighs a 
whole twelve months of them. 

Before we got started into the Secunderabad work, we 
had a few sad cases to remind us that the adversary was 
as yet upon our tracks if possible to harass out of counte- 
nance and heart for the new work. One of our best chris- 
tians fell into the hands of the devil and became a thief. 
Our cook P.aroswamy and his wife, both fell into heathen 



ioo OUR WORK. 

practices in calling in the devil doctors to doctor a sick 
child. These were lost to us. One of our most promis- 
ing boys had fallen into. sin. We let Bro. Moore tell how 
his case turned out : ' ' Nursa had committed a grievous 
sin before God. He hitherto being one of the most prom- 
ising boys, our grief was great. When called, he confessed 
fully and said also that he felt that the Lord had pardoned 
his sin. The whole matter was put before all the children 
He made the fullest confession before all the boys and 
girls, and then went round to ask forgiveness of each one. 
The scene was a touching one. Nursa wept as he 
went round, as did many more. None could doubt 
the sincerity of his repentance. When he had made 
the round, Bro. Blewitt was called upon to pray. He 
began with ' Ai Asmani bap, ' and choked. No one 
seemed able to control his or her feelings enough to pray 
till Nursa at last began himself.. I never saw anything of 
the like. If similar scenes could be seen in our civilized 
churches it would do much good. May God bless Nursa 
and make him a faithful man of God. We have been 
praying for a spiritual quickening, and last Sunday were 
drawn out much in prayer for them all. Without any 
mutual conference the Holy Ghost had constrained several 
of us to ask for an opening of heaven's windows that day. 
It came. Blessed be the Lord! Bro. Ward conducted 
the evening service. The raising of Lazarus was the 
theme. Nearly all remained at the after meeting. It was 
a regular revival. Some who had backslidden came back 
to God, and many consecrated themselves fully unto God.' 

A. M. 

We here copy old notes of the conference of the last 
few days of our stay together at Premoor. 

June i st. We married in Premoor Bro. F. J. Blewitt 
and Ruth C. Freer,. Saboona and . Yenkama, Yenkaya and 
Uckama, and welcomed to our mission ranks Sister Hephy 
Freer whom God had sent to take charge of the ' i Chris- 



OUR WORK. ror 

tian Home." It was a glad day and Saturday too. The 
same day we noted as follows: Praise God for all his 
mercies and love. We have spent a happy two weeks with 
the children and workers here, inasmuch as in that time 
God has wonderfully blessed us all. We have had some 
seasons of rare spiritual refreshment, before God. We 
came from Lingumpully praying for a melting and fusing 
of all hearts into one spirit upon our reunion in Premcor. 
We have surely been heard. Especially in the two sab- 
bath evening services has the grace of God come down 
on the children in copious showers. We have never seen 
rarer and more real displays of divine grace, than in those 
evening services. The last sabbath we spent together 
was a wonderful one. God surely shed forth the spirit of 
His son upon us. Three backsliders were reclaimed and 
every believer among us was mightily uplifted in the spirit 
and the truth, while some unsaved sought the Lord. Not- 
withstanding all satan's hellish efforts to whip us out of 
orphan helpers, we believe that in spite of him we shall 
see some missionaries from among these boys and girls. 
Our one burning desire is, that we may be filled with the 
Holy Ghost and faith. Then shall we see the glory of the 
Lord among the heathen. We are filled with comfort that 
God has given us the souls of so many of the orphans. 
They are our seals of apostleship. The good Lord has 
raised up to us many dear friends in India. We realize 
that a great work is before us and our Captain has long 
been drilling us for it. Glory be to his dear name. 

June 5th, we divided our forces; Bro. and Sister Blewitt, 
myself and my wife and four boys and four girls, our most 
promising native workers, formed the " Secundrabad de- 
tatchment." Bro. -Moore and wife took full charge of the 
native orphans, and Sister Hephy Freer of the Eurasian 
orphans, which we called the Premoor Garrison. 

The Secunderabad detachment marched the sixty-six 
miles to Secundrabad in a little over thre^ days, and we 



io2 OUR WORK. 

took up quarters at 79^ Oxford street, June 9, 1883 
Our first week in Secunderabad was a busy one. Not 
having thousands of gold and silver in hand, Bro. Blewitt 
and myself invested in a large number of empty goods 
boxes, and by a manipulation of his genius and my muscle 
we manufactured book-cases, shelves and cupboards, 
benches, stands, pigeon-hole boxes, etc., thereby saving 
fully Rs. 200 on the furniture item. We had no genius or 
muscle equal to mat or tat making and so were obliged to 
call the hireling. Notwithstanding all our economy the 
opening of our Secundrabad Headquarters cost over Rs. 
300. 

We began work in Secunderabad upon the following 
political platform: — 

1. As missionary workers w T e must do away with the 
chasm that everywhere in India lies between the natives 
and the Europeans. 

2. We must do something to effectually stop the 
mania after English clothes, and other things, among our 
orphans. 

3. We must find a line that will preclude any native 
from gathering, that conversion from heathenism to God, 
consists in changing names, clothes, eating with knives 
and forks, sitting on chairs or getting lots of money. 

4. Inasmuch as the heathen must be convicted of sin by 
the Holy Ghost and led by Him to Christ, and not by 
means of education, teaching, etc, we must preach Christ 
as the apostles did, and that only, looking for definite and 
direct results, from "raw heathenism." 

5. That although we value education, even among the 
heathen, yet we have neither money, time, nor a divine 
call to do any school work except so far as is necessary for 
our workers. 

6. That lest we prove a stumbling block and a rock of 
offense we must adopt a very humble and economical line 
of life and dress. m 



OUR WORK. 



103 



7. That we must go where the masses are if we ever 
expect them to be converted, /. e., we must open and main- 
tain in the open bazaar and most public permissable locali- 
ties the preaching of Christ's Gospel in the open air. 




C. B. Ward in Uniform 



8. That our line of work shall be, to " testify the gos- 
pel," not to reason about it nor allow for one moment any- 
mere ground for argument, we being sent not to plead 
for, but declare Christ as the world's Redeemer. 

9. That we must not build churches or halls at a cost 



to 4 OUR WORK. 

which precludes the repetition of the example in the 
hands of the natives themselves. 

10. That we should use such legitimate means as will 
catch the attention of the throngs, such as the use of 
singing and musical instruments. 

In accordance with these conclusions we doffed the 
European costume and donned one semi-native, the pugri 
in place of the hat, and the native long coat instead of a 
clerical split tail of black, armed ourselves with cymbals, 
tambourines, triangle, banjo, violin, sitar, and, eventu- 
ally, the drum and concertina, and decided to do our work 
on foot in the public bazaars, preaching Christ as directly 
as possible, and urging on the heathen an immediate re- 
pentance and acceptance of Christ for salvation from the 
wrath of God and the guilt and power of sin. Though it 
had long been our custom we still more candidly consid- 
ered and calmly resolved to use an Indian, not an impor- 
ted diet, both for economy and health's sake. After years 
of experiment we are fully convinced that a country diet of 
Indian grains and curries is far more economical and cer- 
tainly far more healthy than the "home diet" of much 
more costly imported stuff fed upon by most Europeans in 
India. We resolved to take no converts out of their posi- 
tion in the Hindu community (if God gave us any), and in 
no case to make converts or keep them by the use of 
money. 

In this first week of our Secunderabad campaign, we 
opened our house for a holiness meeting one evening each 
week. On any other line than that of holiness to God, we 
are persuaded we can never win in our battle. Jesus 
Christ captains a holy army to grandest successes. Low 
spirituality accounts for faithless missionary work in any 
nation under heaven. We felt that we, as workers, needed 
this holiness meeting and were constrained to throw open 
the door to as many hungered likewise for this sweetest 
manna of the redeemed of the Lord. 



OUR WORK. 105 

The morning of June 17 th was as beautiful as the Lord 
ever gave. A little after sunrise a little band of eight per- 
sons, Bros. Blewitt and Luck, Nursa, Patcha and Beema, 
with Eraka, Unjunama and Mustuny, assembled for prayer 
that God would own the very first preaching efforts, and 
then marched by twos to the Secunderbad market bazaar. 
The crowd was good and attention encouraging, and God 
gave his servants liberty in testimony, preaching in two 
localities. 

Thus we began taking up the most public places in 
Secunderabad for preaching posts, and with all the va- 
ried and well known experiences of bazaar preaching in 
India, we waged all the rest of the year a ceaseless war for 
Christ, both morning and evening, six days per week. 
Blessed days of holy warfare. 

Our work in Secunderabad was much the same from day 
to day. It may be well to give here, some idea of the work 
we were accustomed to do. At a given call we gathered 
in the front verandah of our house, sang a hymn and went 
to prayer that God would be with us, give messages, protec- 
tion, etc. vSometimes one, at other times two or three would 
thus pray. Then forming up in procession order, with 
musical instruments in hand, we began our march to the 
bazaar preaching stands, singing or not, as we felt disposed. 
At the stand we generally, though not always, sang first 
and then bowed in prayer before the gathering crowd, 
one, two, three or more engaging in very brief, pointed 
prayers in Temgu, Hindustani, or occasionally in English. 
Then a song, with music, followed by a sharp, pointed, 
brief testimony or exhortation. Thus we preached the 
gospel, but our preaching was testifying it. In this the 
boys and girls took as hearty and effectual a part as we. 
Thus as one after another of the ten or twelve in our band 
closed, a song or bhajanwas sung. It was our place that 
every person in our band should take part on each morning 
and evening solely. In order to do this, we purposely omit- 



106 OUR WORK. 

ted all lengthy preaching or argument. In this way a prac- 
ticable work was opened tip before our orphan workers in 
which time would give them proficiency, with grace. We 
closed with prayer and marched home, and dispersed after 
prayer in the same place from which we set out. This in 
the main is our manner of conducting street services. It 
is not argument or theory, but the plain fact of real salva- 
tion these poor dying people need. We never stand on 
our part to speak in the bazaar without affirming our per- 
sonal experience, and this fact of our personal testimony 
is the one thing heathen or Mohammedans know not what 
to do with. When we refuse to argue or answer questions, 
and affirm the testimony of experienced salvation from sin 
now, they generally look bewildered and say, "How can 
these things be?" "Ye shall be witnesses," said Jesus. 
This we regard as our great office and work. Street 
preaching would be killing for one or two only. But with 
a holy band of ten or twelve, spiritual power is enhanced 
and no one of the band is worked to death. We have often 
been interrogated as to the utility of taking our boys and 
girls into the work so young. We can only say this is 
their Theological Seminary. As did the Master, we are 
trying to train our workers on the field in real, instead of 
sham fighting. Does it work well ? Yes, God's best seal 
of approval is on the movement. Often it occurs the boys 
and girls command a better hearing than any of us, and 
never are they confounded when they are in the spirit. 
God honors their testimony equally with our own. They 
pray, sing and in other respects work as do we daily. Our 
power is not in our numbers so much as in the unity of our 
combined faith. We never fail of victory on the field 
when our hearts are as the heart of one man. We, in 
those early days of our work learned much of spiritual 
warfare. Often we went out and came in defeated; the 
devil had and held the field all through in spite of us. 
Why were we not united in faith and holiness ? We know 



OUR WORK. 107 

of nothing that can successfully oppose a band of ?nen and 
women entirely sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost. 

From the beginning of our work we felt keenly the 
importance of Jerusalem tarrying. It's well enough to 
talk of going ahead and getting the baptism in the work. 
But we have yet to see those who get it in that way. We 
cannot. As we tarry and get anointed, so God gives us 
victory in the bazaar. Our victory never runs higher than 
our personal experience as a band. Achans must die or 
we ground. We began as a feeble band, with everything 
to learn, yet how wonderfully the Lord stood by us, 
encouraged, fired and owned us in those feeble days. We 
were treading new ground every step. We took our 
programme largely from the New Testament, not from 
what we saw others doing, and felt our success or failure 
would surely be great. A valued friend wrote us it might 
not be either. 

July 20, 1884. After two good bazaar services we all 
turned into the English-speaking members of the church 
to hear Major Tucker of the Salvation army. The most 
interesting part of the whole service was the Major's 
experience. It was so clear as to conversion and entire 
sanctification. His remarks upon the personality and 
works of the Holy Ghost were worthy of far more serious 
consideration among us as Methodists, than they will prob- 
ably get. 

From the Premoor diary we make a couple of extracts 
from June entries. The first was made by sister Hephy 
Freer. ' ' The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, 
yea, I ha\ T e a goodly heritage." This is the language of 
my heart. . My Master has been pleased to bring me unto 
this part of his vineyard in answer to prayer. The Lord 
laid the matter on my heart a few months before I came, 
to pray that an opening might be made for me in this 
work. One evening just after praying over this earnestly, 
a letter came from my sister Ruth, in which she wanted 



io8 OUR WORK. 

to know if I would answer a call from God to work in the 

Telugu mission. / shouted and said, ' Amen, Lord ' I 

thank God for this goodness, this being the desire of my 

heart ever since I came into God's full light. Glory be 

to his name, I met with hearty consent from all my dear 

relations, not to say I would not have come if they had 

not consented, but my Jesus laid it on their hearts as well 

as mine. Now, thank the Lord, I am here in charge of 

the Christian Home.' all the way long it is Jesus. 

' A tent or a cottage, why should I care? 
They are building a mansion forme over there. 
Though exiled from home, yet still I can sing, 
All glory to God, I'm the child of a king.'" 

H. C. Freer. 

God blessed brother Moore and the others richly at Pre- 
moor. He baptised two orphans, and among them they 
did also some effective field service, preaching to the 
heathen. 

At first we saw no manifest signs of any fruit from our 
bazaar preaching. Finally a Nicodemus came by night and 
others followed, but few were willing to pay the full cost 
of getting saved, namely, give up all for Christ and with 
him receive all. We found not a few who wanted us to 
pray for them, but far fewer who were willing to open 
their own mouths and confess their sins and seek pardon 
from God in prayer for themselves. We ever pointed the 
seekers to the Lord direct, and did nothing to lead them to 
think salvation was in anywise administered by our hands. 

Towards the end of July some of the baser sort, hired 
two Sunyassis to take up a stand on empty boxes opposite 
us and sing and play on their sitars to draw away the 
crowd. But, alas, they, after four or five successive days' 
effort, gave it up. Our force was large, our exercises 
varied and lively, our music, too, with the help of the Holy 
Ghost in all, and they could never after be employed to 
oppose us. Bless the Lord. By even these men the 
gospel was given thus a wider reputation. 



OUR WORK. 109 

July 23. We decided upon a season of united prayer 
for souls. We had been four weeks and more preaching, 
and had not won yet one soul so far as we knew. We 
did not feel that we were fully up to our measure in Christ 
Jesus or the Holy Ghost would follow some heathen soul. 
After our bazaar service that eve, we assembled in force for 
prayer. God was with us in power. The Holy Ghost 
searched hearts. Some confessed derelictions, others went 
up higher in God. Our prayer meeting ended at 10 p. m. 
Bros. Blewitt, Luck and Ward tarried on till after mid- 
night. Our waiting before God was a blessed one, and we 
reached a point where it was easier to believe now for 
God's rich blessing. Our faith became importunate for 
, the bazaar people. We decided on the following day as 
one of fasting and prayer. It was a day of power. Our 
bazaar crowds were unprecedentedly large and attentive. 
In the morning Mr. Campbell of the American Baptist 
Mission, called on us in the bazaar and preached with us for 
about twenty minutes. The testimony of the children was 
unusually bold and incisive. After coming in, we assem- 
bled for prayer. A christian cook named Joseph, belong- 
ing to the Wesleyans, ivho often visited us, a truly con- 
verted man, brought his wife, who had lapsed into heath- 
enism again, that we might in some way help her back to 
God. Bless God. she was reclaimed, and has since that 
day, we hear, been faithful unto God. 

God wonderfully blessed us that day in a three hours' 
waiting before him, During the day, some of us looked 
at a site offered for sale in the bazaar, and submitted 
the matter of buying to God in prayer. Our evening 
bazaar service was one of intense interest and blessed- 
ness to us all. Our holiness meeting that night had 
a half dozen in, who came after us from the bazaar. Alas, 
they were not ready to yield to Christ, though convicted. 
Two especially could not or would not give up their drink 
idol, and God could not receive them, they went away as 



no OUR WORK. 

they came, unsaved. All told, this 24th day of July was 
one of the wonderful days of our history in Secunderabad. 
God gave us that day an earnest of victory. 

August 5, 1883, we began some work in Hyderabad in 
company with Rev. R. E. Carter, utilizing Theater Royal. 
Many hundreds came, and we trust much good was done 
there. From time to time, from the very outset, we had 
many proofs that the Lord was with us ; many were awak- 
ened, and some came part way "out," but, like the rich 
young man, retreated on a better conception of what 
becoming a christian meant. A good many seekers, like 
Nicodemus, came up, but a public renunciation of all for 
all, and no mission employment, were unusual terms. 

Hyderabad is a vast city of 200,000 souls. Much of it 
must soon be in ruins. Indeed now multitudes of houses 
are falling. " Ichabod." Musjids or Mosques greet the 
eye everywhere. The Nizam's own is the grandest I have 
ever seen. Of Hindoo temples few could anywhere be 
found within the city walls, and they are very inferior ones. 
Mohammedan hate cannot tolerate many heathen, let alone 
Christian temples. Notwithstanding all this, fully three- 
fourths of 3.11 the inhabitants of the city are Hindoos. The 
city, off the main street, has nothing to attract attention 
except poverty, filth and sin. It is said no one may preach 
Christ inside the walls of the city. When shall this vast 
multitude of dying souls hear of the only Savior the world 
will ever have? In this great city the gospel has never yet 
once been preached. 

But August 9, 1883, a Hindoo Sunyassi came up to us 
boldly at the central police station stand and avowed his 
determination to become a christian. A commotion fol- 
lowed, so we had merely time to bid him ' ' believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ," when he was surrounded and borne 
away by the crowd. Our souls rejoiced and followed him 
with prayer. 

August 1 8th, the Sunyassi before mentioned, came to 



OUR WORK. in 

our house for instruction on the way to Jesus. The pre- 
vious morning he had again in the bazaar service, avowed 
his intention of becoming a christian for the third time, 
and asked to be baptised, soliloquising to himself that he 
would thus get the peace of mind he said he had been 
years seeking. Bros. Blewitt and Luck undertook his 
case, and, blessed be God, he was converted to God that 
day, our first Hindoo convert in Secunderbad. Our joy scarce 
knew bounds. The following morning he was with us in 
the bazaar, and in the presence of a large crowd renounced 
heathenism and gave his experience of saving grace. 
Sunday afternoon, August 19, 1884, we baptised Pera- 
manundum before a very large crowd at the Theatre Royal. 
We here enter Peramanundum's experience or history in 
brief up to the time of his conversion as written by himself 
in Telugu, and translated by us. Bless God for this trophy 
of grace from whom we shall often hear in the following 
history of our work. He was conversant with Telugu, his 
mother tongue, Hindustani and Tamil so as to preach 
therein, and knew something of Canarese and Marathi. 
We gave him fully to understand he could expect nothing 
in the way of material aid. He was to live and work for 
God, and trust God to care for him. He said if God had 
cared for him all his sinful years, surely now he would not 
forsake him when he sought to serve him worthily. 

A HINDOO CONVERT'S EXPERIENCE. 

My father's name was Venkata Sawmy, my mother's 
Verama; I was born in Secunderabad. When eight years 
old my father sent me to a pial school in which I received 
a fair education in common branches. After four years 
in school I took employment as a domestic servant. From 
that time till I was twenty-one years of age, I was diligent 
in the service of the devil, and he never treated me kindly 
in return, either. The wages I received for my sinful 
service were darkness of soul, hardness of heart, sorrow 



ii2 OUR WORK. 

and trouble, and had I served him a little longer I would 
have received the wages of eternal death. But I am glad 
God loved me all this while and never altogether forsook 
me. He sent his Holy Spirit to convince me of my sins 
and showed me my miserable estate. He showed me what 
I was. Now began the struggle. I did not want to give 
up my sins, though I wanted to be saved. The Lord 
would not let me go. I became very unhappy. I turned 
my mind assiduously to the teaching of the Hindoo Shas- 
tras. I diligently perused the four Vedas, six Shastras 
and eighteen Puranas, with the hope of finding some 
peace for my troubled heart. But instead of finding sal- 
vation I became more miserable than ever. Just then I 
concluded that if I just became a Sadhu I would get what 
I sought. So selecting my company among the Sadhus I 
followed their profession. The company of these, my new 
found companions, instead of reforming me, made me 
more wicked than ever. I fell deeply into sin. I soon 
found out I was living on the substance of others to 
which I had no right. This was agreeable to the flesh, 
but not honest. I lived this sort of a life for some time, 
thus spending several years more of my time unwillingly 
in the service of the devil. For a long time after I became 
a Sadhu I did not live in Secunderabad, but wandered 
through many places and among many people. At length 
I returned to my birth place. I did not go and join my 
relations, but kept the company of my fellow Sadhus. In 
my wanderings, I had come into possession of the New 
Testament, but I did not believe in it, and cared nothing 
about it. I knew there were missionaries at work in 
Secunderabad, but I never saw anybody preaching in the 
streets as the missionaries were never out in the streets 
with their helpers. I never met any of them. Some 
months ago some Methodist preachers appeared in the 
streets preaching every morning and evening. Their 
preaching created no little commotion among my people 



OUR WORK. 113 

of the town. Curiosity led me to see and hear them. I 
heard them preach the gospel. I got very angry with 
them, but dare not face them or oppose them. Though I 
was angry I did not give up hearing them preach. For 
three weeks I heard them regularly. The word of the 
Lord says, faith comes by hearing. It came so to me. One 
day one of the preachers urged all the people to make 
haste and get saved, as time was very short and death was 
near. I could not forget that word, "time is short." I 
began to inquire if, perhaps, the peace I had sought for 
years might not be found in the way these preachers said, 
that is by believing in Jesus Christ as the Savior and the 
Son of God. I determined to try. One day I went up 
.boldly before the crowd and told the preachers I wanted 
to be saved. They simply replied to me, " Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved," and left me 
there in the crowd without another word. I was tempted 
now to think they to whom I had spoken did not think me 
honest, and therefore they had turned me away with only 
this word. On another occasion I did the same thing and 
got from the preachers the very same reply and treatment. 
After some time, one day, the 18 th of August last, on Sat- 
urday, when the preachers I had heard were at home, I 
went to their house and enquired all I could about Jesus. 
I felt sure on hearing what they had told me tnat this was 
the way. I asked to be baptised. I was told that the 
first thing was, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be 
saved. 1 told them I did believe that Jesus Christ was the 
Son of God. They told me to pray. I bowed down with 
them in the verandah of their house. They prayed for me, 
and I opened my heart and told God what a poor miserable 
sinner I was, and that I believed His Son Jesus. While I 
was praying I felt that the Lord did accept me, and for- 
give me all my sins. They told me next morning to meet 
them in the bazaar and publicly before all the crowd who 
knew me to renounce heathenism and declare my faith in 



ii 4 OUR WORK. 

Christ as well as my determination to be baptised. I met 
them in front of the Secunderabad market on Sunday 
morning, August the 19th, and testified that Jesus was 
to become my Savior, and renounced then and there 
heathenism forever, I trust. That afternoon in the pres- 
ence of three hundred people, native, and English speak- 
ing, in the Chadarghat Theatre, I was baptised. I know 
my sins are all forgiven. My heart is made pure of the 
dreadful sins that filled it before. I have God's Spirit 
witnessing with mine to tell me I am saved. I thank the 
Lord with all my heart that I know God now to whom I 
was a stranger a little time ago. Now I am preaching 
this salvation to my country-people every day. I give 
them my experience and tell them to make haste and do 
as I have done. Some of my people tell me I have be- 
come a christian for the sake of my belly. I tell them 
plainly the preachers told me when I came to see them I 
must not seek anything of them, as they would neither 
take me to their home to live, nor give me money nor em- 
ployment. I must look to God for all I needed. I tell 
them all, I get nothing for preaching. I do it because I 
feel called of God to do it, and of my own accord I tell 
them when I was with them they gave me good food and 
good clothes and received me to their homes. But now I 
live on jowaree bread, and joy to live humbly and work 
for Christ, and when I think of my past life, then look at 
my present experience, what a difference I find. Once a 
sinner bound for hell, but now a child of God." 

Early in September Permanundum became a preacher 
with us, which post he filled with much acceptance, most 
of the time in Secunderabad, and latterly, after some ser- 
vice among our railway coolies, having married one of the 
girls, he became native preacher under Rev. T. H. Gar- 
den of South India Conference, which post he still holds 
at this writing. Filled full of the Spirit, like himself, 
unoccidentalised, he has great possibilities in him for 
accomplishing good. 



OUR WORK. 115 

I give an instance of an occurrence in our bazaar preach- 
ing that has often compelled heart-searching and prayer. 
On the morning of the 16th of August, I with four of the 
workers went to the bazaar, or market stand. I began after 
the singing and prayer. I could not get seven hearers to 
come near. Singing, praying and the sight of a man 
speaking had no power to draw this morning. I felt like 
Paul, in ' ' bodily presence weak and in speech contempti- 
ble." I gave it up and after a song, one of the girls began 
to give her testimony and from every side, people began to 
come and before she ended five minutes of testimony, 150 
persons stood before us. My explanation is this: We 
probably had not God's measure of the Spirit and again, 
He wished to show us these heathen would not be con- 
verted by our superior speaking. Again, God meant to 
encourage these young converts and show them and us, he 
wanted to use these humble agencies. ' ' Not by might 
nor power but by my Spirit, saith'the Lord." 

In September I made a trip to Bellary and Madras, taking 
only money enough for my fare one way. In Bellary, two 
natives who heard me preach in Telugu, gave me two annas 
unsolicited, an old lady sent Rs. 5 for a member of our mis- 
sion, and a brother gave me one rupee. None of these parties 
knew I needed money. In Madras, a sister gave me Rs. 
10, two or three others gave me mites, so I had and to 
spare for my return to Secunderabad. Early in the month 
our house rent, Rs. 30 was due one Saturday morning. 
We had one rupee and eight annas on hand, just enough 
for the day's bread. We bowed down and asked God for 
the rent money. A few hours later the postman brought 
us a M. O,, for exactly the amount needed from the 2nd 
Asst. Collector of Surat a stranger to us. We blessed 
God. 

Our cash book showed, a sister fourteen, a friend five, 
another three, M. O. five R. P. 140, V. E. B. 23-8-0, L. 5- 
12-0 I. N.D. 234. 



n6 OUR WORK. 

In October I was led to begin the work of the India 
Holiness Tract Depository. Rev. J. Inskip donated, per- 
haps with the help of friends Rs. 170; in books and tracts. 
Belle Leonard, since well-known in India as an evangelist, 
sent a donation of Rs. 15 for this work, and later on, a 
valuable stock of books. I also bought up an old stock of 
holiness books said to be not very salable because the sub- 
ject was not popular. I later on, bought up a stock from 
McDonald & Gill of Boston. We sought to bless all 
India if possible. We found no place in the empire where 
either books or tracts on this subject of supreme impor- 
tance to believers could be obtained. It was put on my 
heart to see this reproach removed. I operated this De- 
pository about one year, under all the difficulties of a loca- 
tion away up country. But it was a blessed success and 
our sales were over Rs. 1,000, and when Miss Millett 
opened the " Willard Tract Repository " in Bombay, we 
took counsel together and concluded that she could best do 
the work from Bombay and I made over to her all the 
stock I had on hand at cost. Thank God there has never 
been a day since, when holiness literature could not be had 
in India. When later Miss M. was compelled to give up 
the business Bro. W. J. Gladwin stepped in and took all 
her stock and has had ever since the " India Watchman 
Book Shop " for wares of this sort only. 

October was a good month; three more baptisms at the 
" Garrison." Of our experiences we insert the following 
note: ." It is strange, and not strange, for it was the work 
of the Holy Ghost among us in Secunderabad and in Pre- 
moor, there was this month a great hungering after God. 
The boys and girls working with us in Secunderabad were 
developing spiritually at a wonderful rate. God was own- 
ing their labor and the Holy Ghost begot in us all, a deep 
sense of our helplessness in our great work, unless might- 
ily baptised with the Holy Ghost. We felt that the theory 
of expecting help or equipping grace on the battle field 



OUR WORK. 117 

did not satisfy us. The Holy Ghost very deeply impressed 
on each of us the need of a personal pentecost. We saw 
ourselves the agents of God, and God had sent us that he 
might work through us. We therefore must be 'full of 
faith and of the Holy Ghost. ' We betook ourselves much 
to prayer, and the gracious Captain of our salvation did 
uplift and settle our souls in the blessed Spirit. Still we 
are far below the New Testament measure. " 

On the 14th of November, 1883, I set out for conference, 
which met in Allahabad, in company with Bro. S. P. 
Jacobs. Our conference met in Allahabad, November 
22-28. Nearly all of the fifty preachers were present. 
The session was an interesting one, and it was perhaps the 
most effective session of our history. More than one-third 
of all the preachers were appointed to purely native work, 
and yet the English work was not neglected. One or two 
points vacant last year could not yet be filled. Actual 
work among the natives of India never had such a showing 
as at this conference. More than one-fifth of the two 
thousand members of our churches are native. Vernacu- 
lar day and Sunday schools are found in nearly all our 
charges, and vigorous campaigning in native work is in 
progress with much promise of success. It was apparent 
that we needed but be faithful to God to successfully solve 
the problem of our existence in India, as a self-supporting 
mission. The Telugu mission was remembered as the 
child born about four years before in the very same city 
of Allahabad, and conference cheerfully gave another 
helper, Bro. V. E. Bennett, to the increasing work of the 
Telugu mission. Bros. Blewitt and Luck, of the T. M., 
were received into conference on trial. Bro. Ernsberger 
was appointed this year, as he had requested last year, to 
" Lingasagoor Canarese Mission," and Bro. Jacobs' ap- 
pointment was so made that he could join him later 
instead of holding on in Bangalore where every foot of 
soil is claimed by some missionary padri. No matter how 



n8 OUR WORK. 

many thousands go to hell without hearing the gospel from 
him, yet he cannot allow another to preach to them un- 
challenged. 

November 2, 1883, one of the orphans, who for his char- 
acter aforetime had been named "Thief Nursinga, " passed 
away. Before he died he gave us reason to believe he had 
received the Savior. We expect to see him when we get to 
the other land. A young man, apparently thoroughly 
awakened by the Holy Ghost, employed on Rs. 1 8 a month in 
the Public Library, called seeking the way to God and peace 
for his troubled soul. The brethren did the best they 
could for him and he accepted Christ. Yet for some time 
he came no more. On the morning of the 12th, Bro. 
Ernsberger went to find him, and in the afternoon of the 
same day he called on us. His name is Nursiah Naidu, 
aged about twenty, intelligent and dead-in-earnest about 
becoming a christian. The reason he did not continue 
regularly his visits from the beginning was this. No 
sooner did his friends learn that he intended becoming a 
christian than they put a guard over him and would not 
suffer him to visit us. 

We made the way of Christ as clear as we could to 
him. He was ready for anything. He abjured drink, 
he had only touched a few times, and tobacco, pulled off 
two heavy gold ear-rings, and most simply and clearly 
accepted Jesus as his Savior. He was then ready to go 
with us to the bazaar and be baptised there before all the 
crowd. He went with us. His presence with us at- 
tracted much attention and we had a tremendous crowd. 
About the middle of our bazaar service, Nursiah stepped 
forward, gave his testimony and kneeling down was there 
and then baptised. Almost breathless stillness prevailed. 
Many Brahmins were by to see the strange sight. The 
crowd was immense. After Nursiah's baptism, I spoke 
some twelve or fifteen minutes, having good attention, 
but observing some of the devil's fiery eyes in the crowd; 



OUR WORK. 119 

soon the devil's kingdom seemed to turn out all its bottom- 
less pit inhabitants to fight us. We, however, closed our 
service. But as we got down from the platform the crowd 
gathered and took Nursiah, and for a little time they car- 
ried him bodily away. We finally got him extricated and 
sent him home to his widowed mother. 

NURSIAH NAIDU'S EXPERIENCE. 

" Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I am 
saved. May I trust in H:i ever without falling back. 
I desire briefly to give my experience. I was a heathen 
and Naidu by caste, but I thank God that He showed me 
the way of salvation and true religion. My father's name 
•was Kristnaswamy Naidu, and my mother's is Nagama. 
I was born in Secunderbad. I was sent to school in my 
boyhood. The master there was a Roman Catholic. 1 
heard from him first about the Savior, but I didn't care 
about Him very much at that time. I was a great sinner 
from my youth up till my eighteenth year, when I turned 
to the Lord and the Savior of sinners. I heard the mis- 
sionaries preaching in the market bazaar, close to my house. 
I went first to see and mock them, but thank God that 
He showed me His grace through them. I was with a 
bad companion when I saw the missionaries preaching the 
gospel. I heard it very attentively, but I did not take it 
into my heart very much, as I was with a bad companion. 
But the Lord had mercy on my poor soul, and worked 
powerfully on my heart. I heard them once while they 
were giving their testimony, that Christ had saved them 
from the devil's hands, and they told us that He will do 
that for every one that believes in Him, and they told us 
to try it and prove it in our hearts ; they told us ' go to 
God as great sinners, and pray to Jesus to forgive your 
sins, and he will forgive in the same moment, and, if you 
cannot get it proved to be true, you may throw it away.' 
This is the good news I heard from them, and the same 



i2o OUR WORK. 

moment the truth flashed into my heart very brightly. 
Praise the Lord ! I went and prayed in my house on the 
same day secretty, and glory to God ! He delivered me 
openly. I left every wickedness in that same moment and 
turned to God. I never saw the bible before. I gave my 
heart to Jesus and He led me to see the bible, and that 
same moment I got very fond of it. I testified to my 
friends and wicked companions about Christ — how he was 
working in my heart. They were all very astonished at 
me. I refused my heathenism, such as idolatry and the 
marks of heathenism. My mother and every one of my 
family were astonished at me when I told them that I 
ion t like their heathenism. I saw in the bible that I 
must believe and be baptised, but I was afraid to get bap- 
tised, because I feared the people. But glory to God! 
He took away all fear from my heart. /: fter nearly two 
months, I went to the missionaries and told everything 
about my heart, and how Christ had worked in me. They 
were very glad to hear the good news, and they told me 
to get baptised, but I was afraid to do so. But thank God 
and my Savior Jesus Christ, He gave me great .strength 
that instant, so I went home and told my mother that same 
night everything about Christ, and of my intention. I 
told her — ' I am going to get baptised in His name, and 
become a christian.' She made a great row that night, 
but praise the Lord, I did not fear the people. They took 
me to a relative's house and kept me there a prisoner, but, 
thank God, He was with me all the time and delivered me 
from the devil's hands. I ran away from them and got 
baptised by Bro. C. B. Ward, in the name of the Father 
and the Son and of the Holy Ghost, on the 12th of Decem- 
ber, 1883. After I got baptised my people took me away 
to their house and they gave me a lot of trouble and tried 
to turn my mind, but, praise the Lord, He kept me faith- 
ful. And now He has released me from all my troubles 
and the devil's hands. I trust the Lord only, to deliver me 



OUR WORK. 121 

from all my persecutors and troubles which I shall have to 
suffer for His sake. I pray the Lord to give me mere 
strength to take up my cross and follow Him. Pray for 
my poor mother and for all my family that they may get 
saved from the devil's hands as I did. May the Lord save 
every one of the readers of my testimony." 

NURSIAH NAIDU. 

The above is a brief outline of Nursiah's experience, as 
written by himself. Wo are happy to state that it is gen- 
uine. It looks like small reaping for these months of 
sowing, but it gives us a world of comfort that these two 
men have been truly and powerfully converted to God. 

Our joy w T as great over the conversion of souls. But 
right upon this came grief like a flood. To this day it 
stands before our vision a mystery; but God did it, and 
we bow our heads in godly sorrow. 

As our souls were cheered by Nursiah's conversion, we 
were saddened through and through by the loss of two 
workers. On Thursday, the 13th of December, the very 
day we were expecting Bro. and Sister Moore in Secun- 
derabad, a letter came to say that the latter passed away on 
the 8th of December, 1883. Also that her remains were 
laid away beneath the great tamarind tree by his own 
hand. On Saturday, while we were thinking that Bro. 
Moore and Miss Freer might be coming in, yea, while Ave 
were writing something in memory of Sister Moore for 
the Watchman, another letter came, stating that Sister 
Freer had gone to glory on the 12th inst. For a moment 
our eyes blinded with tears and our hearts leadened with 
sorrow. In one week were taken away from us two of 
our best workers. We were however persuaded that this 
inscrutable providence was all right. Bro. and Sister 
Blewitt reached Premoor too late to see Sister Moore, but 
they were with Sister Freer in her last moments. 

Of his wife, Bro. M. wrote as follows: 

"Just at the time we were making arrangements to 



i22 OUR WORK. 

come to Secunderabad, my precious wife was taken very 
sick. Dear, precious one, she was true to God and the 
work. Loyalty to God in all things, and pure, perfect 
love to her 'Beloved,' as she called Jesus, characterized 
her life. Purity in word and action marked her private 
and social life. Her husband she loved with a degree of 
innocence, purity and fidelity worthy of being imitated." 
When she fell sick none of us thought she would die. 
Sister Freer and myself pleaded with the Father for her, and 
had strong hopes of her recovery, but he took her home. 
Many a time in her bodily anguish she would say : "I am 
very weary, dear Jesus, let me rest," or " Jesus, dear 
Jesus, take me home." Not a word of complaint or impa- 
tience passed her lips. In her fearful agony of body, the 
Lord gave her visions of himself and of the glory land. 
Once as she lay upon her bed, she pointed upward and said, 
" There, there." I asked her, what? She replied: "Those 
men there." Frequently she would point upward and say: 
"Lord take me there, take me there." The dear Lord 
took her home to the home she loved to sing about. The 
blessed Savior she loved so well called her home December 
8, 1883. Beloved Cecy, I look forward to the time when I 
shall stand by thy side on the crystal sea and crown him 
Lord of all. Farewell, beloved, till we meet there. May 
the dear Lord teach me to love himself as thou didst." 
Of Sister Freer's illness he also wrote as follows : 
* 'Our dear Sister Freer had a peculiar fit iii the early part 
of September and became weak after it. Under the care 
of my wife she began to rally. The cold weather came on 
and was severe for her, and she seemed to get a touch o± 
inflammation of the lungs about the beginning of December. 
She continued about, and waited much on my wife. None 
of us dreamed she was so ill. We all thought a change to 
Secunderabad for a time would do her good, and a change 
was accordingly arranged for. The death of Sister Moore 
was so unexpected to us all. It seemed to tell much on 



OUR WORK. 123 

Sister Hephy. She went to her bed exhausted and rapidly 
sank away. I am led to think she died of the heart dis- 
ease. The shock of Sister Moore's death was too much 
for her. Brother and Sister Blewitt came very unexpect- 
edly, and the surprise at meeting them under such painful 
circumstances I believe hastened her departure. She 
seemed to rally a little under the effect of medicine Bro. 
Blewitt brought. Still she sank rapidly. When the doc- 
tor from Siddepett came Tuesday evening he said to her : 
"Don't be afraid; you'll get over it." She replied: "I'm 
not afraid." Blessed soul, on the verge of eternity with- 
out a ruffle of fear of death. "Oh death, where is thy 
sting?' Hallelujah to God and the Lamb. At two o'clock 
Wednesday morning she was sitting on the cot with her 
head resting on Brother Blewitt's shoulder, when she said, 
' I am exhausted.' She was laid down at once, and almost 
immediately after, her happy soul was conveyed to the 
glory land. No struggle, no flutter. Now she gazes with 
undimmed eye on the King in his beauty. These two sis- 
ters loved each other much, and^ almost together the mas- 
ter called them to their reward. The place was holy all 
that day. The children said, ' We can't cry for her ; we 
don't seem to be sorry for her.' Truly we could not cry. 
The very air was full of the angels of God. Hallelujahs 
were borne on the air, and the blessed Jesus revealed him- 
self to me most wonderfully. Wonderful, wonderful sal- 
vation. My soul was filled with divine glory." 

The following obituary notices were published in the 
Watchman soon after : 

IN MEMORIAM. 

December 8th last, Sister Cecelia O'Leary Moore ascended 
from Premoor to her reward on high. She was taken away 
from a good husband and many dear friends and relations 
very unexpectedly to all. She was with her husband, Bro. 
Arnold Moore, just getting ready to come into Secundera- 
bad for a couple of months or more, when she was taken 



124 



OUR WORK. 



with a sickness from which she never recovered. Her 
remains lie beside those of one of our orphans under a 
large tamarind tree in Premoor. Thus has gone up to the 
celestial city the first of Telugu mission workers. Sister 




Cecelia O'Leary Moore. 



Moore was about twenty-five years of age, born in Hyder- 
abad, Deccan, converted in 1875, ever after which she led 
a steadfast christian life. Though she did not for years 
join the Methodist church, she was led of the Spirit to 
forsake worldly society, the use of jewelry and stylish 
dress. She was often called a Methodist for her devoted- 



OUR WORK. 125 

ness'toGod. In June, 1880, she engaged to join the Tel- 
ugu mission, which she did in November following. She 
has since been a tireless worker with us. In September, 
1882, during a visit to Poona she entered upon the exper- 
ience of entire sanctification, and her life betokened from 
that time an indwelling Jesus. 

In March last she was joined in wedlock to Brcther 
Arnold Moore, now of the Telugu Mission, and with him 
soon took the principal charge of the orphan work at Pre- 
moor. She endeared herself greatly to all the children of 
our two orphanages and without doubt has jewels in her 
crown. She labored among the villagers, too, with much 
success. But after three years of tireless toil and divinely 
honored living in this, the chosen work of her life, God has 
taken her away. Her friends are bereaved. But what 
shall we say of Brother Moore? Dear reader, let him have 
your prayer. We have lost a noble and trusted worker. 
Shall her mantle fall on another of India's daughters? 
Our hearts are bowed down under this unexpected blow. 
Thank God she went, though amid much suffering, washed 
white in the blood. Two of her most favorite hymns were, 
"How bright the hope that Calvary brings, " and u Sowing 
in the morning," Nos. 45 and 25 in " Beulah Hymns." 
She has wrought well and has gone to her reward early. 
She had just mastered Telugu well, and was apparently 
just fitted for usefulness when God called her. She was 
an orphan but has many relations in Hyderabad and else- 
where. We hope some suitable memorial may be made to 
perpetuate the memory of this noble young woman, a 
daughter of India who, an example to her sisters in Christ, 
gave herself to the work of offering the Gospel to the heathen, 
and finally laid down her life in the field. By God's grace 
she shall see thousands singing Christ's praise in the field 
where lie all her mortal remains. We are filled with grief, 
yet nerved to intenser effort for these people to whom God 
called her. C. B. Ward. 




Hephy Freer. 



OUR WORK. 127 

OUR SECOND WORKER GLORIFIED. 

Just as I was closing- the sad note in memory of Sister 
Moore, the postman brings a letter to say, ' ' Our darling 
Hefihy is no more. She u as called away this morning, at two 
o'clock, to be with Jtsus. Yes, she is in glory. " This is a 
note from Bro. Blewitt dated Wednesday morning the 12th 
December, Premoor. Our grief is great. The Lord 
giveth and He taketh away. Blessed be the name of the 
Lord. Through blinding tears we bless the Lord. We are, 
oh, so sorely bereaved. Our force denuded in a single week 
of these two dear workers. Sister Hephy Freer only joined 
us in June last, and has wrought in sole charge of our 
East Indian orphanage ever since. We did not know she 
was ill, more than troubled with a cold. So late as the 
last week of November she wrote so cheerfully of her 
work to me and later to her sister, Mrs. Blewitt, saying 
she did not want to leave her work for a change. She 
has wrought with remarkable spiritual success among the 
children. She won the place of a mother in their hearts, 
and their grief is not second to ours. She leaves a dear 
father and mother and sister in Madras, and two brothers 
elsewhere, to each of whom she was very dear. She was 
devoted wholly to Christ, aged twenty-five, a daughter of 
India, a woman of great promise in the Church. Her love 
for Christ and the heathen enabled her to do all her work 
with the E. I. orphans well, and go far toward acquiring 
the Telugu in these few months. But God has taken her. 
What we are to do in this extremity of our work we know 
not. May God speedily call forth of His hand-maidens to 
fill their place. 

C. B. W. 

The loss of our two dear sisters in our work in the space 
of one week w^as very great. We know not how to repair 
the breaches in our working ranks. But we all set our 
faces resolutely to know and to do the will of God. Bro. 
and Sister Blewitt resolved to hold the fort in Premoor till 



i28 OUR WORK. 

other arrangements could be made. In Hyderabad and 
Madras many mourned with us among the relatives of our 
departed workers. Many condolences came in to us. We 
blessed God for christian sympathy in this hour of need. 
Memorial services were held by request, in both the Cha- 
draghat and Secunderabad Methodist churches. Among 
the good things we are glad to record cf these dear work- 
ers is, that they were both entirely sanctified. Their expe- 
rience and testimony were alike clear to this blessed fact. 
Their remains lie beside those of a little orphan boy in 
Premoor on a little plot of ground sacred to us, inclosed by 
a rustic fence. ''God moves in a mysterious way, his 
wonders to perform. " Our holiday season was a solemn 
one, both in Premoor and Secunderabad this year. We 
found in our hearts no disposition to join in the festivity 
of the occasion. 

Brother and Sister Blewitt held the fort for a while in 
Premoor. Brother Moore, chastened, but not dejected, 
joined in the Secunderabad force, while I reported myself 
at Premoor, and, thinking we saw our way to some settle- 
ment of land difficulties, we proceeded to build, principally 
with our own labor, some houses which we had hoped 
would be permanent district headquarters. We spent 
some hard work upon these, but not very much money, I 
presume about Rs. 400 in all. But later events clearly 
indicated we should have no abiding home here. Eventu- 
ally we devoted the timbers in the buildings, such as were 
useful, to the Wesleyan Missionary Society work in that 
district. After I had put some time on this work, Brothers 
Blewitt and Mo ore relieved me for a time. 

During the early part of 1884 Brother Moore and myself 
were enabled to put several hymns into Telugu in such 
shape that they sang well, besides having in them solid gos- 
pel marrow. Yet, I must in justice say, neither of us make 
any claim to poetic ability. More than this, neither of us 
were able at will, to sit down and translate or coin a hymn. 



OUR WORK. 129 

It was only when a special inspiration came, that we could 
do anything of the sort. Many a time have we tried our 
hands on a hymn to no effect, and then upon the inspira- 
tion of a red hot meeting, or after some blessed season of 
prayer, we would sit down and it would come almost as 
fast as we could write. We thus received for use in our 
church and mission some spiritual hymns, as we believe 
fresh from the Lord. Some of them were translated from 
an English hymn, others were translations from Hindu- 
stani hymns. To this date we use them and love them. 

January 5th was the date of an exciting episode in Secun- 
derabad. Nursiah had decided, as his relatives would not 
allow him libert)^ to read his bible, pray, meet with chris- 
tians or be seen by them, or be one himself, that he would 
leave them. Accordingly, that eve he got away from his 
watchers and ran directly to the Telugu mission headquar- 
ters. He came in, panting for breath. All manner of 
persecution had been heaped on him, and now he said he 
was decided to have his freedom, to which he certainly had 
a right. The brethren took him in. He was soon followed 
by his relations, some of them a good deal under the 
influence of liquor. [So much for high caste as a barrier 
to drinking habits.] They began to pound the door and 
demand admittance, which was refused them. They broke 
a pane of glass and proceeded to force open the door. 
Brothers Bennett and Moore backed up against the door 
and held them at bay. The police soon came and put the 
whole crowd outside of the compound. Some of them 
demanded Nursiah, and said they would lay down their 
lives but they would have him that night. Two men were 
arrested, and on the following day were fined each Rs. 2 
for riotous conduct. The arrested parties employed a law- 
yer but could not get clear. A. letter of mine was read in 
court, in which I had strongly advised Nursiah to stand 
like a hero and endure persecution for Christ's sake, so 
that if it ever became necessarv for him to leave his rela- 



T3° OUR WORK. 

tions the fault might clearly not be his, but that of his per- 
secutors. This letter was produced to prove that I had 
been trying to get Nursiah away from his home. But it 
only proved the contrary. The upshot of the whole mat- 
ter was Nursiah got his freedom, and none have since 
dared to molest his person. Bless the Lord, who saved 
him. 

We would like to make here a few remarks on the idea 
of caste. It was Nursiah's idea that when he was baptised 
he had broken caste. But he, with ourselves, was disap- 
pointed here. For his relatives took him home, denied 
that he had been baptised, and said even if he had been, he 
could be restored as he had not eaten with us. So daily 
he ate with his relatives though testifying to them that he 
was now a christian. On a later occasion he gave his 
watchers the slip and came to our house on purpose to eat 
bread with us, and did so in the presence of his brothers 
and his mother. Yet they denied that he had so done, 
and Nursiah continued to eat with his relatives, as before, 
and every effort was made to get him back into caste. 
Priests tried to reason with him, and then to terrify him, 
then charms were tried, but all was in vain. Christ had 
saved his soul. He had conscious salvation, and would 
not be beaten out of it. God is able to make a man stand. 
I mention this that it may be seen that there is no little 
sham in the pretentious caste integrity of high caste Hin- 
doos. We know hundreds who drink liquor freely in open 
defiance of caste law, and religiously defend themselves as 
caste men. 

The work in Secunderabad became hotter and hotter. 
Satan roared at the sight of our little band from day to 
day in the bazaar. His ordinary weapons were mud, cow- 
dung, stones and tiles, etc. Nursiah's presence with us is the 
signal for a stormy day. Sunday owing to the shortness 
of our hands the Chadarghat theatre work was made over 
to Brother Carter for the time being at least, and all 



OUR WORK. 131 

our efforts were concentrated in Secunderabad. Brother 
Ernsberger though unable to speak unless he had an 
interpreter, made a valuable ally in battle, and one night 
received a stone in the forehead that brought the blood 
trickling down his face. But by this very persecution 
God gave our little band the victory. We are fully per- 
suaded that the conquest of souls in the bazaar as Peram- 
anundum and Nursiah have been won, will bring down 
upon us bitter persecution. When we reach the apostolic 
fire line of soul saving by the Holy Ghost, we shall see 
persecution of the sort we read of in the New Testament. 
May God give us grace enough to stand in that day. 
There are so many ways of preaching the gospel easily now 
a days that persecution is almost out of date. The devil 
'sees little he feels the need of fighting. Oh for men and 
women baptised of the Holy Ghost and fire to preach the 
gospel in India. We have the old gospel of Christ Jesus. 
The old devil fights us every step. The heart of man is 
no more wicked now than in Paul's day nor any less so. 
The same battle will in the main have the same general 
appearance. We would not sa) T one word against schools, 
or any other useful agency. But men are not saved by 
education. ' ' The Gospel is the power of God unto salva- 
tion." 

On the of the fourth missionary son was 

born to C. B. and E. M. Ward. Just before this, the roof 
of a part of our house fell in, in Secunderabad, but God so 
ordered that no one was hurt. Willie Pincot was in the 
very room whose roof fell, but being in a corner was 
unharmed. 

February 5th, an event occurred the effect of which no 
one can fully estimate in its relation to missionary work 
in the Nizam's Dominions. The young prince, just eight- 
een years old, ascended his throne. The Viceroy or India 
came to Hyderabad to crown him. Conspiracies were not 
wanting to beat the young prince out of the throne, by 



i 3 2 OUR WORK. 

those who would present rival heirs. But God made use 
of the instrumentality of one of our Methodist preachers, to 
defeat those plans and secure to the prince a prime minis- 
ter of liberal and enlightened mind, and, without doubt, 
thus securing a measure of secure and real religious free- 
dom hitherto unknown in this Mohammedan state. We 
are not permitted to enter more fully into the details of 
this wonderful evidence of God's hand in history. It is 
wonderful ; but it is the surprising answer to four years of 
praying for an open way for the gospel among these peo- 
ple. God ruleth over the heathen. His sceptre he will 
not give to another. Blessed be His holy name ! We 
closed this year in triumph, in spite of all, and recorded as 
follows : — 

' ' We therefore close with a glance at our present status. 
Financially we have everything to praise God for. For 
five years we have trusted God and have never once been 
forsaken. Not one good word of God has failed in all this 
time. It is to us cause for shouting that in answer to 
prayer only, without one solicitation made to man, we 
have received from the hand of God Rs. 30,000 nearly. 
To-day we find it easy to trust the God of heaven and 
earth for over Rs. 1,000 per month. In the early days of 
our history we often trembled at exceedingly light respon- 
sibilities. The Indian Methodist Watchman is the hand- 
maiden of our faith work, and richly owned of God in 
awakening deeper interest in holiness to God and Mission 
work in India and America. God has put his choice seal 
on the India, Holiness Tract Depository. 10,000 tracts at 
work in every part of India sent out in the past six months, 
and the stream gains impetus month by month. 

" Our force from a single worker has grown, under God, 
to twenty -three male and female workers, and others are 
negotiating with reference to joining. The ' lucky streak 
of human sympathy, ' some said we had struck in 1879, 
has proven an unfailing fountain of God yielding both 



OUR WORK. 133 

money and workers beyond what our early faith anticipated. 
To God be all the glory and honor. One more glance 
may be taken at the Nizam's Dominions. The population 
of the Dominions is put down at ten millions, ninety per 
cent, of whom are full-blooded Hindoos. But the Gov- 
ernment is Mohammedan. So here before us lies one of 
the grandest fields in India for Methodism. Oh, that God 
may lay this solemn fact on many workers' and givers' 
hearts. Room for more than one hundred red hot mission- 
aries of Jesus, male and female, need enough for hundreds 
of thousands of money to support them for a time among 
these millions. The people of these Dominions are very 
accessible. The people are ripe for the gospel. There 
are scarce any cities, but thousands of villages. Agricul- 
ture is the calling of the many. 

"A very few friends regard our work as not in harmony 
with the self-supporting policy of the Conference. But we 
simply reply that our work is a legitimate outgrowth of 
the South India Conference, is a component part of the 
said Conference of the Methodist Church whose mission- 
aries are missionaries of the Methodist Church. Our receipts 
are nearly all Indian, and such as are foreign we cannot 
prevent, as they come unsolicited. Our foreign receipts 
are proportionately much less than those of the remainder 
of the Conference. 

' ' The perusal of the preceding pages will have shown 
the reader that we are persuaded that much missionary 
work in India fails of its end by reason of a mistake in 
policy. The end of all missions in India is an indigenous 
self-supporting christian church able to propagate itself. All 
missions mourn over their want of success in this line. 
We regard two mistakes as the solution of the result. 
First, mission and missionaries have too much money to 
permit of any effective appeal to the generous instincts of 
the heathen. They can't dream that so well-monied pad- 
ries and missions can possibly be in need. Second, mis- 



J 34 OUR WORK. 

sion operations are carried on with far too much of the 
occidental in them. They are, therefore, too expensive 
ever to be supported by the natives. Salaries, schools, 
buildings, churches, are too occidental to be possible in the 
hands of the christianized heathen. We, therefore, with- 
out reflection on any body, are committed to the line of a 
purely Indian Christianity. Evangelize the heathen, get 
them out of their sins, let them build, or, if we build for 
them, build schools, chapels and houses their style and 
measure of economy, and thus put before them a possible 
line of christian propagation, within the limits of their 
means. Therefore in dress, in food, in buildings and in 
everything else we work upon a very humble line of cost. 
We are trying to copy more nearly after the New Testa- 
ment outline than anything we see before us. Years 
hence the result will be seen. We are satisfied by five 
years on this line that God stands ready to specially honor 
us. " 



CHAPTER V. 

PIONEERING AND EARNINGS 1884-1885. 

Of our sixth year we must condense much. Nursaya 
Naidu, after three months of bitter persecution, triumphed 
over all his enemies and in open court saw those who 
sought his harm, fined and bound over to keep the peace. 
He was allowed to live at home with his mother and 
brothers unmolested, and attend any christian service he 
desired, being of age. Some time after this, securing to 
his eldest brother his post in the Public Rooms, he resigned 
and joined the mission as an unsalaried preacher. Both 
Nursaya and Peramanundum did good service as preach- 
ers and workers. 

All efforts to get land had so far been unavailing and we 
were compelled to go on taking work as we might be able 



OUR WORK. i35 

so to do. The five miles of road construction we had 
undertaken near Lingumpully having been completed, 
Brother William Marrett gave us a farther section of 
twenty miles of similar work on the old military road from 
Secunderabad to Nagpore. This new work began about 
ten miles out and extended northward. During the last 
days at Lingumpully I had employed John Davis, a brother 
of my former colleague, to remain upon the work and see 
that it was correctly done and that the proper amount of 
work was done by the work people. When the new work 
was undertaken on the Nagpore Road, John Davis was 
sent in charge of the work and so remained all the year 
1884. There being a large amount of carting of material 
for this work we found it expedient to purchase a number 
of carts and several pairs of bullocks and a number of our 
christian boys were put on them. Those who had previ- 
ously married, went to work on their own hook on this 
same work. John Davis being a christian young man, was 
a valuable help to the christians. He could talk the lan- 
guage and saw that they all met for prayer and otherwise 
he was a christian help and shield to them. My visits were 
as often as could be. As a rule a day or two each week found 
me with them and the gospel was preached among our work 
people. We now had three encampments. Our preach- 
ing force in Secunderabad, our home garrison in Ullepur, 
and at Merdchell was located our industrial camp. And 
thus we were divided the whole year. 

On the 1 8th of March 1884, we had a half night of 
prayer. We were traveling ground that satan disputed all 
the way. He had been trying to break down our faith by 
magnifying the difficulties and responsibilities of our posi- 
tion. This night of prayer gave us the shout of victory. 
The " sound in the tops of the mulberry trees" was faint 
at first, but sent to me this word. ' ' Cast thy burden 
upon the Lord and he will sustain thee. " The Sunday 
following was a day of power in our souls as we went 



136 OUR WORK. 

through the work of the day. We held five services in 
the bazaars of Secunderabad. One thousand persons heard 
the gospel. Monday we had another half night of prayer. 
The following day was one of the best bazaar days we 
ever saw. Peramanundum and Nursaya never preached or 
testified with such power. Eight hundred persons listened 
as we preached, prayed, testified and sang. The evening 
service at the police station was attended by about 300 and 
was a scene of power. God strove with the people. 
While we appealed to our listeners to turn away from 
dumb idols to the living God, many men looked to the 
right and left to see who among their fellows were going 
to make the start. These things made us exceedingly 
rejoice and praise the Lord. God very especially let his 
love, light and strength into our waiting heaits, and we 
were much impressed with the expediency of a day of fast- 
ing and prayer every month as regularly and certainly as 
we keep Sabbath. It occured to us during that night of 
prayer, that Peramanundum was converted after a day of 
fasting and prayer, and Nursaya as well. Our attention 
had not before been particularly called to this fact. We felt, 
therefore, that God was teaching us that the battle must 
be first won on our knees. 

I find no date in our diary of the occurrence but it is my 
memory that some time in the month of February this 
year, brother D. O. Ernsberger left us with several of our 
best workers for his Canerese field. We thus gave four 
workers to go out as missionaries. They volunteered to 
go with him. He had his appointment direct from Con- 
ference, and we had no further connection with him than 
to help him with workers, and hand over, as we did for 
three years, the money given by General Phayre. He was 
soon joined by S. P. Jacobs and wife from Bangalore, and 
failing of an entrance to Shorapore, where I visited a few 
years before and began praying for the Canerese people, 
they went onto the old military cantonment of Lingasagoor, 



OUR WORK. ^37 

and began work there. Later on they left this post, 
which was fifty miles from the railway, and divided up. 
Brother Jacobs with two workers went to Goolbnrga, 
and brother Ernsberger with two others settled down in 
Raichore. Years have past, but the posts that year taken 
up, have never been without a preacher since. D. O. 
Ernsberger is in charge of the field with an excellent 
preacher in Shorapore and another in Raichore, while he 
himself is at Goolburga. 

April 3, 1884, Nursaya wrote in our diary as follows : 
" Blessed be the Lord for all his mercies. He saves me 
from all my sins, and saves me thoroughly. He showed 
me his. grace through these dear brethren in the mission. 
" I bless God for bringing me from darkness into his 
marvelous light. I am very glad in him. I am willing to do 
his will all my days ; to work for him, to live for him, to 
fight for him, and to die for him, because he bought me 
with his precious blood. I am now in the mission, and 
know God has called me to work for him. I am glad every 
one is kind to me. I want to work for God and not fall 
back. I love to be here, because through these brethren 
the Lord showed me his grace, and saved my soul. I've 
forsaken all, family, friends, employment, all for Christ 
and his service. I now preach Jesus to my friends and 
relatives and to all whom I may in Secunderabad, and so 
mean to do all my life. I want to see my friends con- 
verted, and so pray earnestly. . Jesus keeps me and gives 
me constant victory." 

Nursaya 

The above is the testimony of a guileless Israelite 
indeed. 

On Ma) T 27, 1884, Peramanundum and I set out upon a 
tour for a couple of months ; village work strictly on prim- 
iti\ 7 e principles of Matthew x. 

Two months later we made the following memorandum 
of the Lord's dealing with us during those days : 



138 OUR WORK. 

SEARCHING FOR GOD'S LOST SHEEP. 
C. B. WARD. 

May 27, 1884. " Dressed as Sunyassies, with bundles on 
our shoulders, Peramanundum and I left Secunderabad at 
about 5 p. m. Our parting came near being a tearful one. 
It seemed to those we were leaving, that we- were going 
out possibly to come back no more, as we were going as 
the apostles did, without two coats or a single pice in our 
pockets. Our Secunderabad bazaar band concluded to 
accompany us a little way to a place called Picket, and 
there with us held a service. God was with us. About 
one hundred persons, half being women, gathered round 
us. One after another testified and exhorted with much 
blessing. No one sought the Lord, however, but a volun- 
tary contribution of three dubs and four small biscuit came 
in. This was at this time more to us than Rs. 100 has been 
at other times. We blessed the Lord. After this in the 
public way, we prayed and farewelled our headquarter 
band. Hear again w r e saw tears ; dear fellow-soldiers, some 
of them felt sorry for us as we were going out, 'sheep 
among wolves.' Well, on we walked six miles to Ulwal 
(Bolarum) and slept at a saral, blessedly. 

May 28, 1884, " Rising early, we prayed, then found a 
well, washed our faces and feet, ate the four biscuits 
given us the evening before, prayed again, and made for the 
Bolarum bazaar. Here we had two services; the first 
quiet, earnest, and with some power. The second, the 
same, except the police tried to drive us away. We 
refused to go. The more they tried to disturb us, the 
larger became our crow r d. Glory to God, we had a glad 
time! The police said no such proceedings in the name 
of Isa Masih were to be allowed in Bolarum. We thought 
it was time, and preached. By this time we were thirsty. 
We made our way to a well and held out our brass ves- 
sels to a paniwallah, begging a drink. He most kindly 



OUR WORK. 139 

gave us some water. We gave him in turn an earnest 
exhortation to come and drink of the water of life. He 
and his companions listened as to a new story. On we 
walked four miles to Toombkoonta. The sun being hot 
we got down by a well in the shade of a large tree. Here 
the Lord gave us a good breakfast of dates just ripe on the 
trees about us. We plucked and ate to our fill. At about 
4 p. m. we moved on. We found some Mussulmans 
guarding a mango tope. We preached to them Jesus, and 
the chief man among them, though he would not receive 
the Savior, gave us eight or ten good mangoes. Bless the 
Lord, what a dinner! On we go, and are mistaken by 
some travelers for buniahs. They ask us our way. We 
ask them where they are going after death, and give them 
our testimony as we walk along. After dark we reach 
Kultur and stop in the Sarai. A pair of fakeers and a 
woman are opposite us. We sing, pray and testify. Then 
Permanundum goes and invests our three dubs in gram 
and jogri. After eating this with thankfulness, we lie 
down for a sleep. May 29th, at day break we are up. We 
beg some water of a woman, wash our faces, hands and 
feet, pray, read, and make ready for a move. We give the 
fakeer by us a good talk concerning his soul. A dozen 
others gather round. We have a grand time with them 
all, and called on each, then and there, to confess his sins, 
accept Jesus and be saved. None did so, however. On 
we move to Anantaram. Here we sing and testify to 
some people loading leaves for the market. The village 
seems deserted, yet a Brahmin gave us ten mangoes, and 
asked us to wait till two o'clock when he would give us 
rice. We thanked him and moved on. On the road we 
met some men resting under a tree. We began at once to 
talk to them of their souls. They listened attentively, 
saying, these things were utterly new to them. Two of 
the company handed us some mangoes. Then we reach a 
place called Aridivi Musjid, a small village of mostly Mo- 



i4o OUR WORK. 

hammedans. Almost the first thing as we entered the 
place, a Mohammedan invited us to eat some khana, and 
sent us to another house where a woman would give us 
the needful for the second person. Amen to God's goodness 
here ! We told them of Jesus and urged them to accept 
salvation in Him just as we had accepted food from them. 
We went on to a well, and, washing hands, face and feet, 
fell too, and ate our God-given breakfast of rice and hot 
chatni. Here we spent the heat of the day. As we lay 
writing, reading, or talking, many came along. To them 
all we spoke of Jesus and salvation. Among over a dozen 
to whom we spoke, not one had ever heard the name Jesus, 
they said. Poor lost sheep of God. Almost ignorant as 
cattle, walking in darkness, led by the devil ; yet created in 
the image of God. Oh, how great has been their fall! 
Calling on God to fit us anew for our work, by a new and 
fiery baptism of the Holy Ghost, we go on. We meet a 
lot of coolies with loads. We tell them sin is a heavier 
load than that they bear, and of the sin-bearer, Jesus. 
None yielded. On we push. Another band of pilgrims 
we meet. An aged man is amazed at what we say of Jesus 
and our experience. But urged that he was too old to under- 
take a new faith. Poor man ! We slake our thirst and wash 
our feet at a wayside well. What a mercy: good water, 
too, we find all along the way. A little further on a Mus- 
sulman presents us with ten mangoes, as we slake our 
thirst. Praise the Lord ! A Murdigi, in Histapur, found 
us shelter for the night. After people gathered round us, 
we told them who we were, our business, and presented 
them a few tracts. One buniah among them had heard of 
Christ before. He went into a rage, forcibly gathered up 
all the tracts we had given away and threw them back to 
us. We were too tired to follow him or anybody else, so 
we prayed for them all and went to sleep. 

May 30, 1884. "We rose early and set out for our 
journey at once. We were soon hailed with, 'Who are 



OUR WORK. 141 

you? ' At first we made no reply. But on looking around, 
we saw Bro. Blewitt. He took us for buniahs. Our 
souls ran together like water for a time, as we told of our 
experiences. We spent an hour together and prayed. 
Meanwhile, ate a little bread and drank some milk, and, 
with twelve mangoes, we parted to pursue our way. Once 
on the ten mile walk we stopped to wash and drink, and 
testify to a company of resting men, and pushed on to 
Laklaram. Here we have a friend in an old buniah. He 
no sooner saw our faces, than he asked us in, and pressed 
us to eat. Oh such a delightful breakfast did he give us, 
of boiled Indian corn and curry stuffs. Here we stayed 
for some hours, and they kept us busy talking all the time. 
The Patel's family all came. Our hearts burned as we 
preached to them Jesus. These people seemed near the 
kingdom, but no one decided for Christ. A number came 
in and heard the story. God has given us the hearts of 
this people. We wanted a little time for writing, so after 
administering some medicine to the patel's children, we 
broke away from them. We found a well by the village, 
washed our clothes, etc., and wrote a while and moved on 
five miles farther to Kondapak. Here we know of an 
afflicted man, a Brahmin, formerly the Karnam of the vil- 
lage, and said to be possessed of the devil. His story is 
that years ago, when in service at the head of his village, 
a thief stole Rs. 200 from him. They say in the village a 
devil stole the money, and possessed him bodily ever since 
He attempts to hurt no one, but can hardly open his mouth 
except to abuse in the vilest slang the language is capable 
of. We met his friends, Brahmin relatives, quite a num- 
ber of them, and told them we were come to see the unfor- 
tunate man. They show T us his place of abode, worse than 
the sepulchres such preferred in Christ's day, dark tumble- 
down, worse than the remains of his former home, the 
only place he can be persuaded to stay in. Our friends 
were talkative, but their Telugu was so high I had to make 



i 4 2 OUR WORK. 

a dictionary of Permanundum to get on with them. We 
had a good time preaching to them Jesus. Two of them 
had seen us in Secunderabad. The Holy Spirit was so 
present that not a man dared to argue, as we pressed on 
them the duty and necessity of speedy repentance, and 
faith for salvation through Jesus Christ. God bless the 
dear men — about a dozen of them, the * Grecians of the 
town. ' The unfortunate man we came to see was out by 
a well, and, although sent for, would not come. His 
friends took us to him ; at first he refused to talk with us 
and chided his relatives, yea, abused them for bringing us 
to trouble him. We soon got his ear and he began to talk 
with us. He told us his story and said nothing would cure 
him except the return of the Rs. 200; his wife and rela- 
tives had all deserted him in his misfortune. He seemed 
sane in the narration of this story, which all said was cor- 
rect. But there he was, almost naked, with his long, 
dishevelled hair and wild eyes, the picture of despair, the 
remnant of a once noble looking man. We plead with him 
to place his trust in Jesus Christ and with us to ask God 
there and then to restore him to wholeness. We could not 
awaken hope in his breast. So we put the case in God's 
hand and left them all at the well. Oh, how our hearts 
went out in prayer for this man. The Brahmins to whom 
we sang and spoke, gave us some more mangoes. They 
were our supper and we slept by a well. 

May 31, 1884. "We woke this morning to find four 
men near us. We at once told them of Jesus and salva- 
tion, and bade them at once accept. We then came to 
Siddepett. Here the post moonshee, an old Mussulman 
friend of ours, gave us at once a good breakfast and good 
water. While I have been writing this here in the P. O., 
Peramanundum has been preaching Jesus to the whole 
establishment. We are happy, glory to God ! Some les- 
sons and ideas gathered in this trip we put in another arti- 
cle. We have come sixty miles, have had our food among 



OUR WORK. 143 

the people, had abounding grace in our souls, and all this 
without a pice in our pockets. Glory to God ! The Lord 
reigneth and will save the heathen. 

SOME OBSERVATIONS. 
C. B. W, 

In my report of our trip from Secunderabad to Sidde- 
pett. I promised some observations. Here they are : 

1. Is it possible to do mission work in India as the 
"twelve" and "seventy" were sent to do it? We answer, in 
view of our experience during these five days, yes; two 
men of God, full of faith and the Holy Ghost, can go from 
village to village on foot, preach Christ to every man and 
woman they meet on the road, by the wells, in the fields, 
in the village street, or bazaar, and be received as the 
angels of God, and get all they need to eat among the 
people to whom they preach, heathen and Mohammedan 
though they be. We poise the yes of our answer still more 
emphatically and certainly on the infallible word of Jesus 
Christ who thus sent, and said, ' ' the laborer is worthy of 
his hire." Three things we opine to be necessary: (1) 
An apostolic experience of salvation witnessed in the con- 
sciences of the workers by the Holy Ghost. (2) A very 
close following of the Master's directions as to style of 
outfit, taking care that there is a perfect absence of the 
air of superiority. (3) It should be openly stated every- 
where that the workers are the servants of God, without 
pay or cash in hand, relying on God and the people, and 
the result will be confidence on the part of the people, wil- 
lingness to share their food with these servants of God, and 
no small degree of interest thereby awakened in the Gos- 
pel brought to them thus. 

2. A valuable adjunct in the hand of such workers would 
be a few boxes of Henry's Thilum with which to bless the 
sick and suffering everywhere to be found. Though the 
malady may be trifling, yet the simple remedy will be 



i44 OUR WORK. 

wonderfully appreciated ; as Christ commanded the apos- 
tles they should "heal the sick." Therefore in every village 
let it be inquired if there be any sick. Do something for 
them in Jesus' name. Let medicine be given in Jesus' name 
and with prayer. Where cases surpassing ordinary skill are 
met, as in the case of lepers, possession of devils, etc., let 
such cases be taken to Jesus, too. We believe Christ 
stands waiting to heal and cast out to-day. Such workers 
should go as the richest benefactors of the race in the 
name of Jesus of Nazareth. 

For preaching purposes only, a company of four, or six, 
might accomplish much more than two, but would stand a 
smaller chance of being fed by the people, unless the vil- 
lages were large. In cities or large towns, we opine, that 
the larger company would be in every respect advisable, and 
judge the liberal use of musical instruments, drums, cym- 
bals, tamborines, etc., etc., would be almost indispensable. 

3. Efforts for women. We would, in this part of India, 
advise the taking of at least two holy women along from 
village to village, if the company be made up of more than 
two persons. These women to get right into the homes of 
the people, as they everywhere can, and preach to the 
women. They should probably be the wives of the other 
workers, but they maybe otherwise if so called by the Holy 
Ghost. 

Of Jhe success of the " two by two " policy, we have no 
doubt. If the company be larger, we are inclined to think 
it would be well to provide for the excess of the two, 
though we believe that a second pair, consisting of holy 
women, would be more than well fed. 

Such a line of work should be very slow: /. e. t in small 
villages at least a day should be given, and in larger vil- 
lages, two days; and in towns of five thousand or more, 
two days or more, and thorough work should be done. Stir 
the entire place with the gospel sound. In the Deccan, 
villages lie all round, at distances from one to five miles 



OUR WORK. US 

apart. So the foot traveling would be by no means a task, 
4. Such work will have its trials. What work has not? 
In the going forth of a pair, we would say, throw your- 
selves wholly on God and the people ; take not one pice 
with you, or you will lean on it, instead of the Lord's 
promise. 

Such a pair of workers may, as did the apostles of old, 
feel the pangs of hunger. But it will be good for the soul. 
It may cost the casting away of much pride and dignity, 
to sleep beneath trees or in village sarias. But it is blessed 
with the Lord, for his sake, and that of souls. 

There may be times when it would be unadvisable. So 
there are times when it is unadvisable to enter a village 
at all, as in cases of contagion, though this may be a ques- 
tion. 

6. Should the native dress be adopted? Let every man 
be persuaded in his own mind. I could find no other line 
on which to do this work, without. being accompanied by a 
cook, dhobie, a cooly, etc. But dressed as a Sunyassi, my 
bundle consisted of a bible, singing books, pen and paper, 
some medicine — no burden for my own shoulders. My 
clothes I could wash myself, as do the natives all about 
me, and the villagers gave me my food already cooked. I 
could not go thus, in the dress of a foreigner. My ward- 
robe alone would call for a coach or a cart. 

7. Ward will be scorned for this story. He may be. If 
so, amen. God has given him a noble band of native 
workers and fellow-laborers. As God enables him he will 
lead this band in the most inexpensive war on heathenism 
possible. Therefore pray for him. 

July 9, 1884. Brother and sister Blewitt lost their first 
born at Cuddapah, on their way from Madras to Secunder- 
abad. But neither father or mother mourned as those 
without hope. About this time we had no little sickness 
in our midst. Fevers, one case of smallpox, and other ail- 
ments, and some financial difficulties, making much prayer 



i 4 6 OUR WORK. 

necessary. During this time I was at Premoor, with Per- 
amanundum and the orphans, doing what we could, while 
sister Ward and our little ones, and the bazaar force, were 
working in Secunderabad, with all the varied experience, 
of bazaar preaching in India. We give one note : 

July 27, 1884. " A never-to-be-forgotten day . For over 
four hours we held our stand at the market, proclaiming a 
full, free and present salvation through Christ, by song 
and testimony, exhortation and prayer. Perhaps one thou- 
sand heard us. God spoke in power to many hearts, but 
no seekers came out. It seemed as if many were looking 
that others might make the start at our invitation. Though 
we were rudely treated by some, our faces and clothes 
bespotted with dung and mud, yet we were intensely happy 
in our souls and strong in faith. ' Glory to God the Father, 
Son and Holy Ghost,' " 

In our work in Secunderabad a good man3 T obstacles 
were put in our way. The magistrate gave an order that 
the police should disperse our crowds. For some time 
this was done, but we took to the streets and sang and 
prayed ; preached on the wing for a time, and eventually 
the magistrate who so ordered was relieved from his post 
and the new magistrate gave an order that no orderly com- 
panies we might be addressing should be dispersed. But 
Mohammedan hate, often would have eaten us up if it dared 
to do so. Brother Blewitt was of great help in this Secun- 
derabad campaign. His knowledge of Hindustani, which 
none of the rest of us had, made him a captain in the 
field. The bulk of the people were Telugu, but always 
there were some who knew only Hindustani, while many 
Telugu speaking people knew the Hindustani. 

During the months of May and June, while I was at 
Ullepur, I prepared the report of the first five years of our 
work. During the day I was with the orphans, there mak- 
ing tile; building walls, and doing all sorts of work inci- 
dent to building. By night, till a late hour, I worked on 



OUR WORK. 147 

the report, till all was written up. Here I might say, in all 
the years I was assistant editor of the Watchman, or editor 
alone, most of my writing has been done while others have 
slept. My days have generally been so full of work I 
could not spare the time to do the writing, and so I have 
taken the night for it. The latter part of this time at 
Ullepur, brother Moore was with me. One item of our 
experience I made at the time the following note upon. 
The same thing has been alluded to in past time, but it 
was more remarkable in these two months than ever 
before. 

' ' In those months we were both spiritually enlightened 
to translate into Telugu a number of hymns. One day, 
laying tiles on top of the house, brother Moore sang forth, 
off hand, a Telugu translation of the Salvation Army ditty 
' The devil and me we can't agree.' On another occasion, 
while I was preaching in Telugu, the Lord was filling his 
heart with song. At the close of my talk, brother Moore 
said, 1 1 have a Telugu song to go on the top of your talk/ 
He led off, and soon sang a fair translation of Bonar's ' I 
am trusting Lord, in Thee,' 'A Crown of Life,' and seve- 
ral choruses. ' One Sunday evening after services I went 
to my room and sat down and wrote out a translation of a 
Hindustani git, ' Jopapi.' On other occasions I had tried 
but could not get a start. Another day I translated ' Kyun 
Mana bhula hai,' and 'Karatahun.' While each of us got 
up a translation of ' I am saved, ' differing but little, and 
both having their virtues. We knew nothing of each other's 
work till we brought our wares for use.' I translated seve- 
ral choruses. Brother Moore has a little musical genius, I 
am perfectly innocent ©f any ; I was never able to sing a 
single tune till after my conversion, when I believe God 
gave me the ability to sing a little. Others may say 
what they like, but I believe the Spirit of the Lord gave 
us the inspiration that produced these translations. For 
only on special occasions under special impulse could 



i 4 B our work:. 

either of us do the translation of a hymn. We neither of 
us had this gift at command. Verily those were happy 
spiritual months spent with God." 

Our faith was greatly tried for months this year. We 
asked great things of God, and our God is a covenant 
keeping God. But we were able to see where we did not 
keep our covenant with him, and He allowed us to be 
often sorely tried but never forsaken. Miss Millett, of the 
Cullis mission, visited Secunderabad in the latter part of 
July, and her testimony to the power of God to heal in 
answer to prayer was made a great blessing to many, and 
our mission force was not short of its share of these gra- 
cious showers at her hand. 

On my return from Secunderabad, I had formed the pur- 
pose of going myself with wife and little ones to Premoor 
in the district, and leave the Secunderbad work in charge 
of others. But despite all honest intentions and earnest 
efforts, we could not so arrange. Bro. Moore was at this 
time with the Premoor Camp, and in much need of relief 
or reinforcement, and all through to the end of August, we 
were considerably tried financially. We stood forty souls 
in Premoor, and nearly thirty in Secunderabad ; meanwhile 
we still prayed and searched for land for a colony. We 
were referred to Mr. H. J. Dunlop, at that time Sudder 
Taluqdar for Vikr Ulumra's estates in the northern part of 
the Dominion. We saw Mr. D. and were offered some- 
thing, but no way opened to it, till Mr. D. left the Nawab's 
service, when it did not seem advisable to try further in 
that direction. 

During August, Watchman business matters took me to 
Bombay for a week. After my -return from Bombay, 
about the 20th of September, 1884, such a flood as the Ni- 
zam's Dominions seldom has seen, destroying' in one night 
over 200 tanks, and leveling to the ground hundreds of mud 
wall houses, and almost precluding traveling in the dis- 
tricts. This settled my going to Premoor. So with another 



OUR WORK. 149 

one of our number, Nursiah, with Rs. 150 worth of blan- 
kets and clothes, left Secunderabad, September 24th, for 
the relief of the Premoor garrison. It was a terrible jour- 
ney through mud and roadless fields; but five days brought 
them through to the much loved encampment of Premoor. 
Here they remained until January 23, 1885. 

The trial of our faith lasted for months, and did not lift 
till in October. Deep were the heart searchings and earnest 
the praying that we might see what was hindering the 
Lord from pouring out upon us his accustomed blessings. 

We could not carry out the plans we had intended. 
While I had been in Bombay, in August, the little children 
came down with the measles and finally came out of them 
with heavy colds and bad bowels, and it became clear that 
they could not be removed to the Ullepur. 

When we came to a point where we could see what had 
been the matter, we soon got righted up, and soon the 
Lord began to show us favor again. During the time of 
the trial of our faith there was a constant stream of small 
sums of money coming in, but much below what we really 
needed, and yet they proved that the Lord had not for- 
saken us, but was trying to teach us something. What 
was it? We lost our unity of heart and thus we lost our 
power to claim the promises of God as we had before. 
Selfishness got in and divided us and the work did not 
prosper for a time as it had done, and we became weak on 
the battle field. 

Early in October Brother and Sister Blewitt derided to 
enter other work, and we were not a little embarrassed, 
not knowing how to manage for all our work. The above 
workers left us the first week in November, and our famine 
ended about a week later; I mean there came an end to 
our money trial, which had held us fast for several months. 
Yet all this time God fed us, and suffered us in no whit to 
endure discomfiture or blank distress. We were simply 
kept where we had to pray daily for daily bread. 



i5° OUR WORK. 

October n, 1884, D. O. Fox, presiding elder, organized 
our work into a regular quarterly conference of the M. E. 
Church. 

At this quarterly conference Nursiah Naidu and Per- 
manundum, who had held exhorters' licenses before, were 
examined and granted local preachers' licenses. 

Said proceedings were duly recorded by Bro. F. J. Blew- 
itt and signed by Rev. D. O. Fox, P. E. 

Said quarterly conference was held in our home in 
Secunderabad. 

Question, when shall the next quarterly convention be 
held? was answered. "Time to be fixed by the P. E." 
We expect it will be done some time, though several years 
have passed since October 11, 1884. Will it be believed 
we were in need of nearly Rs. 7,000, November 1st. Yes; 
it was so. But the Lord helped the Government about 
this time to pay all dues. Thus we came up to conference 
time, above the waves. 

The very day conference met we received a letter from 
William Taylor, now Bishop of Africa, informing us of his 
appointment to our work of Miss Hester A. Hillis and Miss 
Jennie R. James, both on the way from America. Miss 
Hillis had been ten years in the employ of the A. B. F. M., 
in Ceylon. By the same post, came news that the "Good- 
ways," of America, had raised funds for two missionaries 
to the Nizam's Dominions. Miss Dema Stone was sent by 
William Taylor for Bro. Ernsberger, so we could but 
rejoice that these needy Dominions were to have, five new 
workers so soon. 

November 25, 1884, saw an entry in the conference min- 
utes, as follows: "C. B. Ward, located at his own 
request, becoming a member of Chadarghat quarterly 
conference." Now, five years later, we may note briefly 
our reasons for this step. (1) Conference seemed to me 
engrossed in English work, insisting on provision for its 
needs but leaving native work too largely to shift for 



OUR WORK. i 5 i 

itself. (2) Conference passed a resolution forbidding get- 
ting out workers from home, except through the presiding 
elders, who seemed sworn to the English work to the gross 
neglect of native. (3) It seemed to me, the conference 
had already, so far, swerved from the original platform 
upon which William Taylor had started, and there was 
no possibility of a return to that line. (4) It seemed 
to me best to do what I could as a "Methodist local 
preacher," in full and loyal connection with the church; 
but not under its annual conference. We had hoped and 
planned that the Nizam's Dominions might be formed into 
a P. E's district. The plan for a time met approval, and 
I was proposed for the P. E. in anticipation. I did not 
accede to this latter, and the petition for a district was not 
granted when it came up in the cabinet. 

We now saw something of the mind of the Lord regard- 
ing our East Indian orphans ; and new workers from home 
seemed to indicate the way to bring these orphans into 
Secunderabad. 

Bro. Davis, our old time yoke-fellow, had strongly urged 
it early in the year; but the way did not appear to me. 
But now, when it did, I gave the order, and Bro. Moore 
reached Secunderabad with our fifteen East Indian orphans. 

December 3, 1884. Those who went to Premoor in 
September remained there with the twenty-four native 
orphans. 

During December the Lord was rich in all things toward 
us. Over Rs. 5oo came from friends we had hitherto not 
heard from. 

December 4th, 1884. I joined Bro. Arnold Moore, and 
Miss Laura Wheeler, of Bassim, in marriage at Hyderabad ; 
and this ended Bro. Moore's connection with us, and began 
his connection with Dr. Cullis' Mission at Bassim, E. Ber- 
ars, Central India. 

Not a few old friends came to help us settle the East In- 
dian children. Maretts, Choetts, and a few other christian 
friends deserve rich reward. 



152 OUR WORK. 

December 25, 1884. Misses Hillis and James reached 
us unawares ; not having forewarned us, we could not meet 
them at the station. So many persisted in calling us " Sal- 
vationists," they could not find us by inquiring after the 
M. E. Telugu Mission for some time. A grand Christmas 
present, we truly regarded this and aloud we praised the 
Lord. 

About this time Peramanundum concluded it would be 
good for him to have a wife, and asked for one, Nera, a 
girl sent us by the wife of Collector Elphinstone of Ahmed- 
nugger, who rescued her from dancing girls, and a life of 
shame. Early in January, Miss Dunhill, a Zenana Mis- 
sionary of Bangalore, sent us a girl rather over twelve years 
of age, for whom we never could do much. She finally 
was married and, later, died of cholera. Miss Dunhill has 
been a friend and helper all these years. She has sent us 
no less than four orphans at her own expense; and oft re- 
membered ' ' her children, " sending us money. This Chris- 
tian worker is a rare daughter of India. 

The pressing claims of the Watchman made it expedient 
for me to borrow Rs. 1,000 to put it on its feet. Just about 
this time our old colleague, W. J. Gladwin, who had before 
given up the Watchman and entered the Salvation Army, 
returned to Bombay. He helped us to secure the needed 
Rs. 1,000. 

Our work on the public road progressed fairly well and 
by this means we were able to do much of our own sup- 
port. But with the beginning of the year 1885 came a re- 
organization of the P. W. D., which threw all our work out 
of the hands of the christian engineers who had given it 
to us. This might not have been so bad if it had not been 
that the man into whose hands the work now fell, conceived it 
to be his duty to begin to make us trouble. Many engineers 
in India deem it right to take percentages from contractors 
as well as to draw their pay in full from the Government 
they serve. We did not believe it any other than bribe 



OUR WORK. i53 

taking and so could not give it. After a couple of months 
of trouble, we were able to secure a settlement with 
the Government and closed up this work after having fin- 
ished about Rs. 20,000 worth of it in about 12 months. 
Our profits on this work were about Rs. 5,000. 

Our way to getting land seemed blocked still, and no 
work could be secured near Premoor though we sought it, 
and on the invitation of Brother J. J. Otley, an Engineer 
in the Nizam's Public Works Department, Ave decided to 
take up work on the Chanda Railway extension, about fif- 
teen miles from Secunderabad. Accordingly we ordered 
those in Premoor, all except one of the married orphans 
and his wife, to remove to Secunderabad preparatory to 
going upon work once more. January 23d, 1885, Perama- 
nundum and Nera were married and a few hours later in 
came the detachment of twenty-four from Premoor, hav- 
ing marched by road. 

This same day Rev. A. W. Rudisill made his first visit 
as P. E. to Hyderabad. We found him a dear christian, 
and he assured us he believed God was with us. 

Monday, January 26, 1885. Bro. Rudisill was with us, 
and saw all our converted orphans and joined in meeting 
with us; he gave us much encouragement and bade us 
God-speed. 

January 27, 1885. Peramanundum and all the work- 
ing force of our native orphans left for a camp, fifteen 
miles out on the railway being constructed. Our trusty, 
almost christian, maistry, Lutchman, had gone on before. 

It may not be amiss to define the sort of work we often 
refer to as "contract work." India cart roads, railroads, 
canals, and, indeed, almost every sort of public work is 
done by hand. Banks, and cuttings of earth-work are done 
by large numbers of cooly men and women, men digging 
and filling, while, for the most part, the carrying of the 
earth and stone is done by women in baskets holding each 
about one-eighth of a cubic foot. The baskets are round 



T 54 OUR WORK. 

and made of date fibres. The pickaxe as used in England, 
weighing from six to nine pounds ; shovels are not used, 
but in place a short hoe, called a powrah. Thus, by hand 
labor only, thousands of miles of railway, common cart- 
roads, canals, and other great works are executed in India. 
In this sort of work we engaged with our orphans, employ- 
ing numbers of other coolies besides. Thus, in 1884 and 
1885, we had constructed, under the supervision of P. W. 
engineers, nearly twenty-five miles of public cart-road, re- 
ceiving therefrom about Rs. 27,000. We were enabled in 
this way to earn upwards of Rs. 5,000 for our own main- 
tenance and the work. Our children were taught to de- 
pend upon themselves, and also, as far as possible taught 
to manipulate the labors of others. Some few of them de- 
veloped an ability to subcontract, and realize something 
more than simple cooly or laborer's wages. During these 
years we paid for the labor we employed something under 
three annas per day for a man, and two annas for a woman. 
One man and one woman ordinarily would excavate and 
remove either into a bank, or out of a cutting, about four 
cubic yards of earth per day. It may not be known gen- 
erally that in this way the Suez canal was constructed un- 
der De Lesseps. 

The same day we started off our detachment for work 
upon the construction of the Nizam's Guaranteed State 
Railway, another reinforcement came to the work in the 
Dominions by Bombay train; the Good-way Missionaries, 
M. F. Smootz and Ben. Reynolds, arrived at Secunder- 
abad. Bro. Smootz remained with us, and Bro. Reynolds 
went on soon to join Bros. Jacobs and Ernsberger in the 
Canarese field. Miss Hillis went almost immediately to 
work amongst the Tamil-speaking natives, started a small 
school, and fell to studying Telugu. Miss James took 
charge of school work among the East Indian orphans; 
while Sister Ward managed the home for us all, but the 
work had taxed her strength far too much. Thus we 



OUR WORK. 155 

wrought away, and God blessed us all, day by day. Miss 
Hillis suffered in health for a time, till the Lord attended 
to her case and healed her fully in answer to prayer. 

During February this year, the number of our East In- 
dian orphans reached twenty; and the news came that 
Miss H. M. Bell had offered herself for our work in India. 

We closed our sixth year in victory. It was the most 
eventful, trying, and blessed year so far. 

The needs of these Dominions were much impressed 
upon us in the early part of this year, and we wrote a letter 
to the Christian Witness headed "Twenty Workers and 
Rs. 20,000" for the Dominions. We had studied the geo- 
graphy of the land ; and the ability of God to support and 
care for twenty bands, as well as one or two, I could not 
question. 

Our success in developing our boys and girls into workers 
exceeded our anticipations. God's rich blessing was upon 
them and us. Of the Christian character of most of our 
native Christians, we were proud. We found those who 
had married, had made fair progress in caring for them- 
selves, and needed to be occasionally cautioned against too 
high expenditure. We could give God special thanks that 
as regards morality, He wonderfully preserved the mem- 
bers of our flock, though the moral atmosphere about us is 
bad to the utmost. After years of experience, we came 
solidly to the conclusion that on the point of morality 
greater dangers surrounded the European and Eurasian 
than the native character. 

We closed the year with twenty East Indian orphans, 
thirty-five native unmarried ; and six pairs married and set 
up for themselves, doing well and leaning on us for sup- 
port no more ; of English-speaking workers we numbered 
six. "All our experiences so far confirmed previous con- 
victions on the matter of self-support as my life work. 
Indian, not western; evangelistic, not educational; within 
the resources of the people of the land, both as to expense 



156 OUR WORK. 

and method." As regards preaching, we recorded : "It 
must be desperate, hand to hand conflict, from shop to 
shop, tract distribution, scripture selling, etc. A running 
fire on the streets for Jesus, torch light processions and the 
vigorous use of musical instruments." 

In health, in spirit, in labor, in funds, in all, God richly 
blessed us so far. At this time, looking over the millions 
of souls in the Dominions, we were moved with pity and 
love begotten of the Holy Spirit; we queried and wrote 
"Is it the will of the Lord we should move on slowly, con- 
tented with doing a little only, while these millions con- 
tinue to perish, and perish for ever; Nay, God would give 
them a chance to be saved. Hath not He promised to de- 
fray all the expenses of this holy war? In our foolish sim- 
plicity we said there should be, in the Nizam's Dominions, 
Methodist missions as follows, i. Secunderabad, 2. Hyder- 
abad, 3. Yelgundal, 4. Indore, 5. Yedlabad, 6. Mehduck, 
7. Lingasagar, 8. Shorapore, 9. Kuppul, 10. Raichore, 11. 
Gulburga, 12. Bidar, 13. Bir, 14. Nandair, 15. Naldroog, 
each advantageously situated in the midst of 50,000 square 
miles of territory. Each the centre of a quarter to half a 
million souls, the most of whom have never heard the name 
of Jesus. 

Five years have passed since we entered the above in our 
diary; matters stand almost as then. The English Wes- 
leyans have entered Yelgandul, and Mehduck. We have 
entered Kuppul, and Gulburga, and in a way Secunderabad 
and Hyderabad. But millions still cry, with little prospect 
of being soon answered, "Come over and help us." Oh! 
how sad; and away down on the wave of 1889 since Jesus 
said "go" and "every creature." 

We cannot omit mention of the reward of some of our 
best friends who have recently ascended to God. Rev. 
James Dawson and wife, of the Scotch Presbyterian Church 
Mission in Chindwara, Central Provinces, were shipmates 
of ours on the way out in 1876. In later years both ex- 



OUR WORK. 157 

perienced the blessing, or grace, of entire sanctification, 
and read our books and the Watchman-, they for two years 
sent us Rs. 5 per month. Mrs. Dawson became so full of 
the Spirit that when her husband was no more, she preached, 
and prayed, and shepherded the flock for some months. 
These dear souls in their last days, when nearing the close 
of twenty year's service as missionaries in India felt called 
upon to humble their missionary methods, and at their ad- 
vanced age took to touring hundreds of miles on foot, put- 
ting up with the people as much as possible, and very ma- 
terially reducing expenses ; and, as they wrote us, getting 
much more into the confidence of the people. 

In noting the results of our seventh year we must be still 
briefer than hitherto. It was mutually agreed upon, that 
Bro. Smoots and I should take upon us the special respon- 
sibility of the care of the little flock at work on the railway 
construction, and supervise the work, and work-people 
there. So from the beginning to the end of this year, for 
the most part, the little camp on the fifteenth mile out 
from Secunderabad, was called the " Padri's Camp." Here 
our prayers and songs ascended to God, morn and even, in 
the midst of a large camp of coolies, and we did what we 
could, both spiritual and secular, but all for the Lord. By 
the end of the year we had executed about Rs. 25,000 of 
railway construction work. The proceeds gave us about 
Rs. 6,000 of the Rs. 10,000 our work cost us for the year. 

The experiment was new entirely to Bro. Smootz, and 
somewhat so to me; but cast right among the work-people 
every day, we could not but get their language, as no books 
could ever give it us, and some of our boys began to de- 
velop some business ability; and this was one end of our 
faith, i. e., to teach native christians to help themselves. 

Miss James took special care of the East Indian flock 
most of the year. Miss Bell, before spoken of, came on 
August 8th, 1885, and gave more or less help in this teach- 
ing and training work, while studying and acclimatising. 



158 OUR WORK. 

Her passage to India was unitedly paid by the Rev. Mr. 
Murray of College Mound, missionary, and my brother 
Arthur M. Ward of Chicago. Bro. Murray is a superan- 
nuated M. E. minister, deeply interested in self-support- 
ing missions anywhere. 

Miss Hillis resolutely set about winning souls through 
the medium of Tamil, while she studied Telugu. Having 
none too much room in our crowded quarters, she took up, 
by favor of the Rev. W. W. Campbell, of the American 
Baptist Mission, a room which, devided by a screen, she 
used as school-room and home. 

Here she gathered the poor little children no one else 
cared for, and taught them reading and writing and of 
Christ, till the number exceeded half a-hundred. Her work 
did not end here ; she sought through the streets from door 
to door for homes she could enter. Where she could, she 
entered, and did what she could for God. When she could 
not enter she talked in the streets, and that both to men 
and women. Thus she toiled, and who shall say her labor 
was fruitless? 

Bazaar work in Secunderabad was vigorously carried on 
daily except Saturday. Manifestly there was not much 
result, yet we believe that in our bazaar work in Secunder- 
abad at least a score of natives were at one time or another 
truly awakened and converted. But the awful fire of per- 
secution from their co-religionists and relatives, caused 
most of them to shrink from publicly joining us in the 
bazaar, or coming out to be baptised. Yet our home saw 
many a Nicodemus. We tried almost every form of street 
activity, and we had the pleasure of seeing an awakened 
life in the efforts of other bands of workers in Secunderabad. 

All our days in Secunderabad we kept up our Friday 
night holiness meeting, for our own and the good of any 
others who might be inclined to come in with us. A goodly 
number of persons experienced the grace of a pure heart 
in these meetings in our home and went forth with freer 



OUR WORK. 159 

hearts and stronger hands to work and live for Christ. 

For all this we thanked God. 

Our strict antagonism to tobacco and liquor, made join- 
ing us in our efforts undesirable on the part of all tobacco 
using agents of other missions. It has ever seemed an un- 
measurable sin of unfaithfulness in the use of mission funds 
given for God's work that either padris, or their helpers, 
should either drink or smoke them away. What humble 
loving souls at home offer as a sacrifice to Christ, we see 
in India offered over again to the devil, who smiles over 
the sniff of alcoholic fume or tobacco smoke. 

Overwork made it necessary for Sister Ward to go to 
Bangalore for a season toward the end of 1885. Barring 
this time, she ran the home and looked after the little ones 
and the rest of us did the work of three women. 

Thus we pushed on our work through the year, each as 
he or she could by God's assisting grace. 

It became necessary for us to send one boy away, who 
we hoped would have become a worker ; but alas ! he seemed 
to run always on the low miasmic line where Christ could 
not help him. He was lost to us, and so far as I know has 
never been brought to repentance. However, in spite of 
spiritual unfitness, the English Wesleyans took him up, 
and employ him still. Perhaps a bad tree can bear good 
fruit. 

Month after month Bro. Smootz and myself carried on 
the work of railway construction out about 18 miles from 
Secunderabad. Our camp was known as " Padri Gooda," 
that is the Missionary's Camp. Our preaching, our singing, 
our manner of life all marked tn as something out of the 
usual run of contractors. While on this work in the month 
of May or June while several thousands of people were 
working all along the line for 86 miles the cholera broke 
out and rapidly spread along nearly the whole length of 
the line. Where thousands were at work in a few days, 
the number went down to a few hundreds. At the time 



i6o * OUR WORK. 

all our work was within a stretch of a little over one mile. 
For miles either side of us work was practically suspended 
for some days. But on our part of the line not one case of 
cholera occurred, nor was work hindered for a single day. 
More than this, many who were not smitten with the scourge, 
yet who out of fright desisted from work and in many in- 
stances moved from proximity to those who were affected 
seeing our wnrk going on and rinding no cholera among 
our work-people, came by the hundred and worked for us, 
helping us thus to get rapidly on with our work and we were 
spared all the trouble of drumming them up or of making 
them advances. More than this, Bro. Smootz and myself 
sent in word to the gentleman under whom we worked as 
petty contractors, that if he would send us a gallon of rec- 
tified spirits of wine and a few pounds of cake camphor, 
we would make some cholera cure and go up and down the 
line in the various camps of work-people and do what we 
could to save and relieve the suffering. The spirits and 
camphor came with all speed and until the cholera passed 
away we superintended our own work and went daily up 
and down the line administering to the sick. Many were 
saved, and much done to prevent any farther spread of the 
disease. If per. chance these lines may fall into the hands 
of some one who may want to know what our medicine 
was, we will say it was simply spirits of wine, with as much 
cake camphor dissolved therein as would dissolve itself 
readily. It was our practice to give this in 6 or 8 drop doses 
on a little jagery or brown sugar, once every five minutes 
till relief came. Whenever we got cases soon after taken 
down, we were very sure of a cure. If the case had been 
running for several hours we did not, as a rule, save them. 
The interposition of divine providence on our behalf was 
so very manifest that even the ungodly and the heathen 
took notice and admitted it. It gave us great publicity. 
The officials of the railway were exceedingly kind and 
helped us much a little later, we have ever felt, because of 



OUR WORK. 161 

the hand of God with us at this time. Yet, I am no L sure 
any of them would admit that this was the reason that they 
were kind to us. We got well on with the work we had 
taken from Mr. Balkrishna and the railway engineers gave 
us the completion of some heavy railway cuttings, more or 
less rock. Here we came to have our first experience with 
the explosive, known as dynamite. Then a large section 
of ballast supply and spreading was given to us, so that 
within the year we did something like 25,000 rupees worth 
of all kinds of railway work, except masonry work or build- 
ings. As hitherto our profits were about 25 per cent, on 
the total outlay. We received our pay for our work per 
thousand cubic feet. Ordinary embankment we got Rs. 5 
for, and cuttings Rs. 7, while for rock cuttings we got as 
high as Rs. 2 1 per thousand feet and all explosives were 
supplied by the company. Our ballast brought us 1 8 rupees 
for sand and 23 for stone, landed at site ready to be placed 
upon the line. Much of the work we did by day-labor and 
made a good profit, but some we did by subletting, and in 
this way we made business men of many of our young 
christians. 

The exactions of Cantonment law compelled us to change 
houses in the latter part of 1885 to a larger one command- 
ing high rental; the only thing we could do. But taking 
occasion by our capacious quarters, in November we brought 
in all the native children, not married, for two or three 
months of schooling. Personally we applied ourselves to 
teaching them to read, write and figure. How fresh the 
memory of that school house in the open air, with the 
ground sanded for a black board, and fingers for chalk ! 

While in these fine quarters in the part of Secunderabad 
called Chilculgoodum, we had a good photograph taken, 
containing nearly every one of our whole mission family. 
As we neared the end of this, our seventh year, we made 
special efforts to burden our souls with grace from God. 

Earnestly we waited on God and preached to all. Some 



OUR WORK. 163 

souls were quickened, but something seemed to tie God's 
hands in those meetings; we could not understand it then. 
In temporal matters, this year was like the previous ones 
interpersed with plenty and want, just so far and oft as kept 
us always feeling our utmost dependence on God. Brother 
Smootz developed and became our most useful, valuable 
and devoted co-worker. His history is a wonder of grace 
if written. His being here in India is all of the Lord's 
doing and he seems so to enjoy it. 

Friends, Divine goodness and aid and great spiritual 
good followed us all the year. We came out at the end 
about even as usual. But not a foot of land as yet for our 
colony. 

On the 14th of January, 1886, was born to us a daughter, 
afterward named Susana Ruth. 

As a local preacher I was a member of the Chadarghat 
Qr. Conf. I attended the sessions regularly, but my re- 
ports were rejected by order of the P. E., and at the session 
of the annual conferencs this year our reports were not 
received, and thus for five years we called ourselves Method- 
ists, but our membership was nowhere counted in the 
books of the church of our choice. It was feared that I 
was a "come outer" in certain quarters and a course was 
taken that would have made it easy for me to have become 
one, if I had been afflicted with that complaint in the least. 
I believed, however, that the time would come when all 
my brethren would understand that I was as much of a 
Methodist as any of them and was unwilling to appeal 
against the treatment received. I give all my brethren 
credit for good intentions, but they were mistaken in their 
prognostications as to my plans or dispositions. After five 
years our Qr. Conf. was reorganized and we were all counted 
in again. At the close of this year we had seven English- 
speaking workers and twelve native. Had our whole staff 
been on the pay roll of any missionary society, we would 
have been getting Rs. 1,300, and an allowance for orphans 



16 4 OUR WORK. 

at current rates would have given us Rs. 300 more per month. 
Our whole income was not more than half that and we had 
enough. In our bazaar work we had two spurious cases, 
whom we baptised. We thought them good cases, but 
they soon fell away or back to their real condition. We 
reported to our Qr. Conf. fifty-six full members, ten pro- 
bationers and an entire christian community of eighty-four 
souls. 

CHAPTER VI. 

A GREAT EFFORT AND THE RESULT. 
1886-1887. 

Our eighth and ninth years commenced the period con- 
sumed in an honest, stupendous and financially fruitless 
effort to compass, by our own labors in India, the needed 
capital for the founding of a christian colony to be but the 
first of many more in time. Our first year in working on 
the railways gave us favor with the railway officials, all 
our work having heen successfully and satisfactorily done. 
Circumstances gave us the favor of the agent of the Ni- 
zam's Guaranteed State Railways, upon which we had been 
working all through the year 1885. Our work had been 
uniformly profitable, while for the most part it was " sub- 
contract," and another doubtless made more than we. A 
still farther extension of the same railway of seventy miles 
was to be carried out. The agent of the railways assured 
us that he was prepared to give us ten, or twenty miles of 
the next extension to be carried out in 1886. 

Humanly speaking, here was a chance in one stroke, to 
make all the capital we needed to float our enterprise, with- 
out having to draw upon funds in other lands, for which, 
already, all missions had so many needs. We may say 
here that we were led, partly from the fact that, because 
of our bold presentation of the wants of the Dominions, 
being equal to the ability of twenty missionaries, and 



OUR WORK. 165 

$20,000, some of our dear brethren took fright and repu- 
diated us, as though they thought there was the slightest 
chance of our getting the same, and that possibly this 
might be " a white elephant " of a mission. After these 
years still we say the work in these Dominions demands 
what we then represented. We never designed for our- 
selves any such things; but we believed the M. E. Church 
o light to rise to grander things than that measure. We 
do not now pull down the gauge. We pleaded for very 
humble and inexpensive lines of work then, and do now. 
This little fear was felt on our account, or on account of 
our little random shot, but we felt a whole-souled disposi- 
tion to try to do for Christ in India as much as we had sug- 
gested, and give the M. E. Church the glory of it all, 
without the cost or outlay of a pice. Such were some of 
our "man's ways thoughts." 

A brother in the employ of the Nizam's Government as 
an engineer in the public works department, was ready to 
get one year's leave from Government and join me. But 
we neither of us had Rs. 2,000 of the needed Rs. 20,000 
capital required for the successful execution of a railway 
contract of about Rs. 300,000. We cast about and prayed. 
A banker, a Mohammedan, well known in Secunderabad, 
whose house we lived in for a time, was ready to give us 
the use of the capital on condition we gave him one-fourth 
the profits. " Be not unequally yoked" was an impassa- 
ble barrier to such an arrangement. Ordinarily borrowing 
money securities must be given, in responsible parties, or 
valuable property. We consulted over matters with him. 
and at last estimating that under any ordinary conditions 
we should realize fifteen per cent, profit, or at least Rs. 
40,000 on twenty miles of work, we proffered the gentle- 
man one-fourth of these estimated Rs. 40,000 of profits for 
the use of his Rs. 20,000 of capital, one year, without 
interest. 

To such an agreement C. B. Ward and J. J. Otley 



166 OUR WORK. 

signed their respective names, giving no personal securi- 
ties, or any other names as security. This native soucar 
gave us this large sum of money without a shred of real 
security except our christian characters. 

We venture that few English bankers would have done 
so liberal a deed, with so tremendous a degree of confi- 
dence in human honesty and ability. 

Thus it was; at the time we thanked God for it all, and 
regarded the successful provisions along the commence- 
ment as tokens of Divine favor. Were they or not? As 
we remember now, on April 19. 1886, we embarked on 
this enterprise in these Dominions in the name of the 
Lord, and loaded ourselves, and children, and a couple of 
railway wagons of things, and left Secunderabad in good 
hopes of success in this undertaking. We cut down the 
dense jungle on the line for the whole of the seventy miles, 
and camped at a place 150 miles from Secunderabad, 
almost due east, and about the middle of the twenty mile 
piece of line we had taken. We began work in earnest, 
and soon had about us over 1,500 work people, and our 
best anticipations seemed in fairest way of success. Such 
was the direction of the breeze right on from April to 
October. 

During this time our work went on in Secunderabad, as 
usual, in all its lines; and another move in the family 
brought all into closer quarters, and nearer the English 
Methodist Church and many friends. 

Meanwhile the government had cancelled the leave of 
J. J. Otley, my partner, in this work, and he returned to 
his government post early in September. 

All this time we made every effort for the spiritual good 
of all with us. But we confess much of our efforts seemed 
like pelting a mighty wall with sand. Yet God was with 
us. Permanundum for a time did good service as a doc- 
tor, dresser, and christian worker among the coolies we 
employed. 



OUR WORK. 167 

October, November, and December, what shall we say 
of them? Unforeseen to us sickness, mostly fevers and 
unsightly sores, laid our work-people by, by hundreds. 
Scores dying, frightened the rest so that by the end of 
December we had not above 400 work people left, and we 
had lost the whole of our capital, Rs. 20,000, leaving us in 
a snare from which, humanly speaking, there was no 
escape. A debtors' jail (which we have in India), seemed 
a real possibility before us. In this close fix we went to 
the railway engineers, and told them the facts, placing 
ourselves at their mercy. God gave us favor, especially 
with the executive engineer, H. B. Molesworth, Esq., 
who bade us not be discouraged, but pull on, and by God's 
help and his, we did. But the worst of all was the sad 
apostacy of one of our number, accomplishing in his down- 
ward course the ruin, perhaps for ever, of one of our native 
girls. The circumstances were peculiarly sad and aggra- 
vating on the part of a trusted and fellow worker. 

Judas had been about one year among us, before we 
found him out, which when we did, left us no doubt as to 
what we should do, "twenty-four hours notice," to such 
an unrepentant apostate. This seemed a deeper, more 
unbearable load than all the financial trouble. This awful 
example was followed by another among our native com- 
munity. Oh ! how the memory of those sad days remains. 
On every soul in Secunderabad and our Railway Camp it 
came; we covered our faces before God, and cried for 
mercy. God heard us, else we had not lived and held 
together till now. Prompt exclusion of so grievous an 
offender met with approval, and the sad disgrace did not 
hurt us as I thought it would. We prayed and held on in 
faith in our little flock and the Lord did not forget us. We 
shall not forget the value of Brother Smootz as a brother 
and co-laborer in the Lord in those days. By our side he 
stood in the darkest of all the trials, he bore his full share, 
although he was not a Methodist, and I was not sure he 



168 OUR WORK. 

ever would be. Our financial losses made it impossible to 
send money to the mission treasury at Secunderabad for 
many months. We laid the facts before all, and we called 
upon God to support the Secunderabad garrison by His 
grace, as He had the whole of us in early years, when we 
did no work, but trusted Him for all. Well, the Lord was 
good and never left or forsook the little band in the ver}^ 
darkest hour. In wonderous ways help came. New 
friends were raised up, and oft unknown to us. Our con- 
dition was not publicly known, so it was not sympathy 
that got us the rupees. As the young lions, so recieved 
we. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever and ever! 
Thus while the public was ignorant of our straits, God 
helped us; and for about six months, or till June 1887, 
when the rains came, we just lingered in the balances, 
neither losing or gaining aught. Then, having topped the 
hill of difficulty, we started on a rapid descent of success, 
(in our case), and in the last six months of 1887 we largely 
multiplied our force of work-people and put by a round 
Rs. 4,000 per month. So at the end of the year, we had 
for the payment of our banker, Rs. 24,361. When the 
real extent of our losses became known a friend, a native 
gentleman of Hyderabad and a well-known contractor, Mr. 
Balcrishna, effected a compromise with our banker, by 
which we were to pay Rs. 24,000 in full settlement of all 
claims, on condition we paid by a certain date. 

But the Railway Company delayed payment a little, 
and we had to compromise again, which we did and paid 
Rs. 26,561 to the banker, and he cancelled our bond and 
returned it to us. But the disinterested kindness of Bal- 
crishna, we cannot forget. All through 1887 we had many 
a hard pull financially. A noble wife, as good wives 
always do, proved her value in the darkest hour, and man- 
aged the Secunderabad home, and much of the time the 
bazaar proceedings besides, doing not a little with some of 
the girls, and going to the native women of Secunderabad. 



OUR WORK. 169 

Miss Hillis began in 1887 by coming out to our railway 
camp, and taking charge of our girls, and visiting all the 
adjacent villages. This we felt in a very special manner 
needful, and we were thankful because she was led so to do 
without our suggestion. Miss Bell at the same time 
worked in Secunderabad, but, later on, entered the Hyder- 
abad Medical College, to fit herself for the work of a phy- 
sician. Brother Reynolds came back from the Canarese 
field in 1886, from which he entered upon the work of 
Colporteur Evangelist, under Brother Gladwin in Bombay. 
Peramanundum fell into Satan's snare by yielding to tem- 
per, and going away from our camp a few miles. As we 
did not go all the way to call him back, he went on, and 
was soon employed by Rev. J. H. Garden, of Bellary, and 
is in the harness still an exhorter. We trust he may yet do 
much good. God did graciously and wonderfully rescue 
him from heathen darkness. Toward the end of 1887, 
Nursaya and wife came to the Railway Camp, and became 
of much assistance to me in all the various work of con- 
cluding our stupendous undertaking, and was of much 
help in our little church. 

HESTER ANN HILLIS. 

Of Miss Hillis' work among the girls and boys we can- 
not say too much in appreciation. She soon became much 
beloved by the natives all about us. We had oft occasion to 
check her from too great exercise of her walking strength. 
Her zeal literally ate her up. After a few days illness, 
August 15, 1887, God took her in a moment. As nearly 
as we could tell, heart disease terminated her life, "in the 
twinkling of an eye," while we were not expecting it. 
Her remains are on railway ground, near our old camp, till 
the trump of Gabriel awake the dead. Thus ended the 
life of one of the most remarkable women we have ever 
known. Born of New England parents, she was a bit of a 
Puritan. Under Calvanistic reading, she was for years 
wing-weighted in her experience after she became a chris- 



170 



OUR WORK. 



tian. She was a graduate of Grinnell College, Iowa, U. 
S. A., having worked her way through, largely as a poor 
girl, not a little impairing her health in her devotion to 
study and work. She was from her earliest days a natural 
horn missionary, and so after leaving school, she soon 





(■ 




v ,, 


w^m 






..■. ±:y 



Hester Ann Hillis, M. A. 

became a missionary under the " American Board of 
Foreign Missions " to Ceylon, where she spent ten years 
in successful labor. A part of this time, she was mission- 
ary of a field about to be abandoned, and God greatly 
blessed. She was all those years an apostle of economy 
and self-support. 



OUR WORK. 171 

After ten years' service in Ceylon, she returned to 
America in shattered health. After a few years there 
recuperating, she desired to return to Ceylon or India 
under the A. B. F. M., but without pay. The society 
would not send her, and she resolved to come anyway by 
God's help. In this state of mind she met Bishop William 
Taylor, who at once appointed her to the Telugu mission, 
Secunderabad. The Bishop's autograph appointment she 
prized till she ceased to work and live. During her Cey- 
lon days, she made the acquaintance of Miss Sisson, then 
working under the same society in South India. By her 
she was led to rely on Christ for entire sanctification, and 
without doubc entered the experience. But lingering Cal- 
vanistic concepts haunted her all her way, till after she 
came back to India. Under the help of Rev. S. P. Ja- 
cobs, she was led to let go all but Jesus, and put experi- 
ence first and doctrine after. Her own testimony was 
very clear and happy. We have read the correspondence 
between her and Miss Sisson. The latter's letters were 
epistles of very peculiar tenderness, love, and clear insight 
into all Miss Hillis' difficulties of mind. Our dear sister- 
was charged with zeal, and energy, and self crucifixion, 
beyond most devoted persons who can be found. ' 4 Go 
work," was a command that must be obeyed at any cost. 
Her soul was on fire to stir others whom she met, to do 
something for those about us, especially the heathen. She 
often said she doubted the religious experience of pro- 
fesing christians, who did not live, pray, and work for the 
salvation of the heathen. Even we could not keep up with 
her, and her faithful soul admonished us one by one when- 
ever she thought us wrong or slow. She did much to stir 
up English-speaking women in Secunderabad to undertake 
work for Christ, with but little fruit. She felt it the duty 
of the English people to open a school free from Catholic 
(Roman) influence. She started such a school and largely 
ran it, till it got a footing — a government grant of Rs. 50 



172 OUR WORK. 

per month, and a committee of management, and staff of 
paid teachers — when she left it in other hands. Her man- 
ner of life was most frugal. 

Every scrap of cloth, of food, or any kind of material, 
was by her careful hand laid away for some time of need. 
We were accused of very humble living; Sister Hillis 
taught us a humbler every day, by her small pittance of 
food. A little Eurasian girl she adopted: and her "Anna" 
remains with us to-day. Her devotion to Jesus, she sought 
to instil into every boy and girl she taught. In her last 
sickness, as tenderly as they could, the native girls she had 
taught tried to care for her; and when they saw she was 
gone a wail of sorrow passed from one to another among 
them. We made her a coffin and at sunrise the following 
day, laid away her remains in deep sorrow. Not until she 
was gone, did we fully appreciate her real character and 
devotion to Christ. May the influence of her short life, 
of about one year and eight months with us, be never 
lost. She was never married and died at the age of about 
forty-five. She certainly was an apostle of self support, 
and after ten years under the subsidy system, said she 
could not work longer under it. While with us a native 
gentleman in Ceylon, who knew her there, offered her 
her support if she would come back and live and work 
there. Her appointment by Bishop Taylor she would not 
disregard ; and did not accept. Some of her Iowa friends 
thought she was following C. B. Ward, and his theology 
on missions, but they were never more mistaken. In all 
her ideas she led us, and, as a missionary of ten years' 
experience, we gave much respect to her thoughts and 
methods. In her personal religious experience, she de- 
rived help from us. But in mission politics we learned 
much from her. 

Mrs. O'Leary Moore, Miss Hephey Freer, Miss Hester 
Ann Hillis, a blessed trio of souls, taken by the Lord from 
our midst within eight years. Why? 



OUR WORK. 173 

Death claimed still other victims, Henry Hall and little 
Willie Smith both died in our railway camp, one of dia- 
betes, the other of fever ; and Dumpki, a converted Lom- 
bardy or Banjara girl, married to one of the boys, died 
in Secunderabad in a fit. The friends of a few of our 
Eurasian children, who became able to take over charge of 
them, did so ; and thus five passed off our hands in 1887. 

After Nursiah came from Secunderabad, open bazaar 
work was suspended, and we are only sorry that after we 
stopped, it became easy for some other workers, who fol- 
lowed our example when we were there, to do likewise. 

It were impossible to pen all the wonderful experiences 
of grace and earthly good, experienced during these two 
dark years Of course we could do nothing in the matter 
of getting a village in these days. 

But we did not drop the idea. Still we pleaded for a 
home and expected it. The severe, hard work that fell on 
the writer in 1887 laid him low, and toward the end of the 
year it seemed as if both mind and body could not much 
longer stand the terrible strain of the closing months. 
In a very feeble condition I went into Secunderabad, 
just about the Christmas and New Year's holidays. While 
there, we came to the last pice, and knew not where the 
next should come from, when the postman came with a 
letter containing a check for Rs. 500 from one of our old- 
est friends, whom, however, we have never seen, J. J. 
Tomlinson, of Trevandrum, a " thank offering." Oh. how 
our hearts went up to God in thankfulness. It was a token 
fresh from God that He was still with us. 

God soon gave back strength both to body and mind, 
and we went on slowly closing the railway work and 
accounts. Through all these days Bro. Smootz was with us, 
and a helper of faith and co-laborer he was. It is need- 
less to say he was not fearfully tried in this long pull of 
trouble, but he came out O. K., and resolved, before our 
ninth year closed, to join the M. E. Church, which he later 



174 OUR WORK. 

did. Mrs. Ward failed tinder these unexampled burdens, 
but refused all offers of furlough home for rest and recu- 
peration. By the end of this year we could see our situa- 
tion. After settling with our banker we still owed mis- 
cellaneous parties about Rs. 5,000, and different parties 
stood due to us about Rs. 5,000, of which, however, we 
could not recover at that time one pice. It therefore fell 
to our part to pay up all claims honorably. 

In our adjustment and dissolution of partnership, my 
partner, Mr. Otley, assumed a balance due to make up the 
full amount agreed upon to be paid our banker, Rs 26,561, 
and all the petty claims amounting as they swelled up to 
about Rs. 4,000, fell to me to pay. When settling with the 
banker, we paid him all we had ; so I was without capital 
to begin once more and pay Rs. 4,000 of debts. A brother 
we had assisted, in turn assisted me with the loan of Rs. 
400, on which I turned my face toward the coal mines at 
the end of the section of railway we had undertaken to 
complete, and did largely, our total work coming to over 
Rs. 200,000 in eighteen months. 

What became of the Watchman all this time? Almost 
overwhelmed, and fully decided to close, up came Bro. 
Gladwin, and took up his old post as chief editor, and re- 
fused to let the little one die. During the whole of 1889 
we scarce wrote a word for it. Strange as it may seem, 
our abilty to write seemed gone for the time. But Brother 
Gladwin filled the bill, and many thought the change an 
improvement. 

As we look back over these two years, we wonder. Our 
best friends scarce expected we should ever recover our- 
selves and get free from the Rs. 20,000, or rather Rs. 30,- 
000 debt. Nor would we but for Divine interposition. We 
have often been asked why our experience was so fatal in 
this contract and good in others. Our experience was the 
experience of most of the contractors, on this seventy miles 
of construction carried out in 1886-7. Unforeseen sickness 



OUR WORK. 175 

of so serious and fatal a kind, with the fact that the line 
ran for the most part through dense jungle, where so few 
people lived as to give us no local labor. Importing from 
great distance, necessitated a much larger outlay than 
either the railway officials or we anticipated. But, aside 
from all the natural reasons men may assign, how God 
could prosper us with a worse than Achan as one of our 
number, I could not and cannot see. I humbly acknowl- 
edge God's justice and love in all we passed through. The 
heathen knew of our shame and saw our financial resources. 
I have often told them, God could not bless us, because sin 
was in the camp. 

We never lost a pice after the apostate left our camp. Let 
others make of it what they will. We give the facts. We 
certainly believe Satan hated us, and the purposes we had 
in this work. Did God permit him to frustrate us in this 
honest (even if mistaken) grand effort to do a good thing? 
The work was not all loss. We learned much, became 
widely acquainted.; many of our boys became much better 
business men, and we had reason to believe, christians. 
In the first days of March, 1888, Patcha Sahib, the best 
business man among them, died a most triumphant death. 
He contracted consumption in 1887, and sank rapidly till 
he died, leaving a wife and one little boy, and cash capital 
of several hundred rupees. He was a blessed Christian 
and one of the most useful among all our orphans. Christ 
can save a Mahommedan boy. Little Dermy, left us by 
Rev. W. B. Osborne, died suddenly, like the putting out 
of a candle, of fever. And will not some reader wonder 
if we got through with anything, and had anybody left? 
Yes y bless the Lord, we came to the threshold of our tenth 
year with devoted souls, fewer workers, but with no less a 
determination to follow the Lord as He leadeth, and en- 
deavor to do as He willeth by us in India. 

At the end of these two years, it is our duty to say, we 
came out as a mission perhaps Rs, 2,000 in arrears, and on 



i-j6 OUR WORK. 

the score of contracts Rs. 4,000. We stood alone, with 
none but the Lord, so far as we knew, good enough to un- 
dertake for us in all this, but, humbly depending on God 
for help to pay all honest dues, we bade farewell to the 
ninth, and welcomed the tenth year. 

During the progress of this two years railway work, we 
came into closer relations with the Officers of the Nizam's 
Government, and many other public men, and very gen- 
erally into the acquaintance of the common people of all 
this part of the Dominion. By name I was hardly known, 
but " Padri sahib" who does not know? We found our- 
selves now in the Khamam district, eastern division of 
the Dominions, and found these parts as destitute as any 
others we had seen. Vast tracts of land lay waste all about 
as. What we could see clearly showed us that a popula- 
tion three times the present, once tilled these fields, now 
covered with jungle, and built villages and tanks by the 
hundred, everywhere now in ruins. We found about us 
now more aborigines and Koiwars than we could find in 
all the other districts. 

These people are a sort of demon worshippers, not Hin- 
dus or idolaters, though they pay some repect to the gods 
of their neighbors. These people are especially open to 
Christian effort, not being so cut off from us by caste. All 
these things naturally led us to ask if here might not be 
the place for our feet. Accordingly we made no less than 
three efforts for land in 1887-9. But conservatism kept 
the door closed against getting anything from Government. 
A simple building site we could anywhere get. But we 
wanted more, and it we could not get. Still we believed 
God, and held on in hopes. Government officers encour- 
aged us, but influences at Hyderabad made it impossible 
to give us what they were anxious to do. 

During these days of adversity, the Lord blessed our 
flock. Most of the native boys succeeded in earning enough 
to enable them to purchase carts and bullocks, and some 
of them to lay by some cash. 



OUR WORK, 177 

As through the very fire, the Lord brought us through 
by a way no man could foresee. Till the judgment, 
many friends of God, whom His Spirit prompted to help 
us, will never know how their pittances and larger morsels 
came like manna fresh from the skies. God was indeed 
the fatherless's Father, and His ever watchful eye saw our 
every need, and how shall we praise Him for supplying, 
per promise, " all your need?" 

Two friends whose frequent letters, advice, sympathy, 
and prayers we cannot forget, were Bro. W. J. Gladwin 
and S. P. Jacobs. We should not forget to mention that 
on January 14, 1886, God gave us a little girl, whom, after 
Mother Wesley, we named Susan, and after her grand- 
mother, Ruth. " She came," a friend wrote us, " to keep 
the three boys, her brothers, straight." 

The exigencies of our work necessitated two camps or 
homes; from the end of 1887, accordingly, all unmarried 
Native and Eurasian girls were with Mrs. Ward in our 
Sscunderabad home; and all the married native families, 
save two, and all the Eurasian boys with a few native boys, 
unmarried, were in our Line Camp with me. Stern neces- 
sity was our law, and, consequently, though man and wife 
are one, my wife and I spent but a few weeks together 
during 1887-8. Mothers will know how to sympathize 
with her, who bore burdens alone, (and so heavy they 
were, it is a wonder she did not break down beneath them), 
in the management of our Secunderabad home, and care 
of over twenty souls all the time. Exigencies develop 
characters adequate to the needs of the hour under God's 
benevolent administration of grace. 

CHAPTER VII. 

LAND AT LAST. 1888-89-90. 

April 19, 1888, just two years after we embarked upon 
the railway contract so hopefully, we transferred our little 
company of about fifty souls, of all ages, to Yellandellapad 



OUR WORK. 179 

(the name abreviated now by telegraph and railway to Yel- 
landu), the seat of the Hyderabad Deccan Co., Ld., coal 
mining operations. Like Abraham when he left his native 
country, we knew nothing of any special inducements or 
openings, but we felt we should go there. So we came 
with the Rs. 400 loaned by our friend H. Wallace, one in- 
deed this time, as all the capital at our command. Truly 
a small show for a payment of Rs. 6,000 of liabilities. But 
a door was open and we entered, and soon we were on our 
feet and under head-way. We need not go into detail, 
but by March 12, 1889, we had blotted out nearly Rs. 5,- 
000 of our liabilities, and earned some Rs. 3 000 for the 
home in Secunderabad, besides our own fodder in Yellan- 
dellapad. But we may step on and say, soon after enter- 
ing year eleven, we found ourselves the owner of a house, 
well, etc., on the banks of the River Yellandellapad, worth 
Rs. 2,000, built by ourselves all paid for. In eighteen 
months at the mines we did of sundry building and min- 
ing construction work about Rs. 40,000 in which we were 
enabled to realize as before noted. 

This, too, is wonderful in our eyes, and to God who 
helped us be thanks and praise. By the end of 1888 it 
became morally certain we could not directly get the land 
we wanted for our colony. We therefore concluded we 
must accept the advice of a friendly official of the Govern- 
ment, either taking up land in the name of a native, and 
run a risk; or buy a claim some existing holder was ready 
and willing to part with. Within the last few years a num- 
ber of Europeans have been asking permission to take up 
lands in the Nizam's Dominions. But it is pretty clearly set- 
tled now by Government that no lands shall be given, except 
the applicants become Nizam's legal subjects. There 
seems to be fear that encouraging such applicants would 
be inviting the camel to occupy the tent. The British 
Government has on one ground or another, within less than 
one hundred years absorbed from the Nizam's Dominions 



i8o OUR WORK. 

about as much territory as His Highness now possesses. 
We do not say wrongfully, for on each occasion there has 
seemed justice enough to win the Nizam's consent. "In 
lieu of debt payment " has been the usual record. 

But the present Government of these Dominions has a 
feeling that these territorial losses have been forced, and 
any steps that may lead to further losses are positively to 
be avoided. While there is some prejudice against mis- 
sionary work, yet we freely credit the present govern- 
ment with a most pacific spirit toward missionaries and 
their work, and wise procedure will, we think, meet 
with no interference in these Dominions. There never 
have been any decrees against Christianity entering, and 
entering missionaries or societies have met no obstacles 
not met more or less in every part of the land. The pres- 
ent law is available for the protection of all subjects of the 
Dominion's of all creeds. And one Taluqdar we know, 
punished those who persecuted christian converts. 

vStill we think there are some, not many, who do not 
want "eyes" to fall upon what here and there still exists 
in out-of-the-way places. It is no slander to tell the truth. 
Syed Hoosain Belgrami, Esq., the Nizam's private secre- 
tary, in his "History, " told with fearless honesty the tale 
of grievous oppression of the poor that in other days has 
contributed far more than bad climate, or any other rea- 
son, to the depopulation of the country. But this state of 
affairs formerly existed all over India. We are glad to add 
testimony to the fact, that oppression and extortion is 
largely becoming a thing of the past. The last thirty 
years, and especially the last six, have well nigh given us 
all the improvement the greatest optimist could have 
expected. A few more years will give us the best of Gov- 
ernment general education of the masses, and such a restor- 
ation of past glory as will surprise the world. In view of 
all past experiences and present facts, we concluded to buy 
out some holder of a good claim somewhere near the Yel- 



OUR WORK. 181 

landu Coal Mines. The Hyderabad Deccan Co's. work- 
shop we foresaw would afford employment for our Eura- 
sian orphan boys, such as we had been able nowhere else 
to find, and be in close proximity to our Colony at the 
same time. 

Therefore, by the assistance and advice of a friendly 
official, we soon concluded the purchase of the lease of a 
village, situated but two miles from the Yellandu railway 
station, from the original holder, a Deshpandiah. His 
lease was for thirty years, expiring in 191 2 A. D. Its 
area is about 2,000 acres, half of which may be counted as 
permanent forest and grazing land. The other half was 
once under cultivation, but, forsaken by the husbandman, 
it has gone back to jungle. The village is one of many 
'thousands in Telingana called "ruined villages." We 
might more appropriately call them "forsaken villages." 
One large tank breached no less than eight Koontas, and 
three wells with long water channels tell us what the 
village once was. 

The restoration of this village will cost Rs. 5, or 6,000, 
but restored, will give us 300 acres of wet cultivation, and 
700 of dry. A small river menaders across the village, and 
across it the bund of the tank was cleverly thrown by 
some old Hindu engineer, perhaps 1,000 years ago in the 
first instance. 

We took the village at the uniform rental of Rs. 800 
per annum from first to last. It is the usual plan to take 
up such lands on a sliding scale of rent, commencing dur- 
ing the first few years at something small, and going up 
to a very heavy figure the last few years. We could have 
begun on a rental of Rs. 100 per year, but that would be 
to have come out the last three years on Rs. 2,400 per 
year. We foresaw this was not safe, while we felt as able 
to pay the Rs. 800 a year from the beginning as to pay Rs. 
60 per month house rent in Secunderabad for many days; 
while D. V., in a few years the village should yield a hand- 



i8 2 OUR WORK. 

some income, besides maintaining all our mission family. 
This "lease" was entered into between Pursu Ananta 
Ramaya Deshpandiah, of Singareni, on the 8th day of 
October, 1889, and the registration of the same was made 
in the Adalut Court of H. H., the Nizam Hunamacoondah, 
and with the registered copy of the "lease" was filed a 
map of the village of Todalagudum. 

Our lease is tantamount to an everlasting possession of 
the land, but after 19 12 we shall have to pay the rent rate 
prevailing on adjacent lands, instead of the smaller lump 
~um we now pay. All our houses and moveable improve- 
ments are ours. It is not in our power to describe the 
relief, real satisfaction and thankfulness we feel after more 
than ten years' pilgrimage in these Dominions, in being at 
last possessed of a landed home for our mission. Bless 
God for all the wandering, and experiences, and manna 
mercies, and bless Him in the highest for our village home 
at last. We could now say to the christian friend beyond 
the ocean, whom we had never seen, who for Christ's sake 
had promised us the capital for the restoration of our vil- 
lage whensoever we succeeded in getting it, that we were 
at last ready. 

Before this we had written him in deep despondency, 
almost hopeless of getting a village. But the darkest hour 
was just before the dawn. When there was no more 
chance for confidence in any fleshly arm, God laid bare His 
own. To Him be our ceaseless thanks and undying grat- 
itude, for He has verified His word * 'verily thou shalt dwell 
in the land," unto us after far less than forty years' proba- 
tion. 

In the early part of this year, 1890, we have so com- 
pleted all arrangements with our New York friend that he 
began to put at our disposal $2,500, equal at the present 
exchange rates about Rs. 6,000. We then began our ar- 
rangements for the evacuation of Secunderabad, and the per- 
manent occupation of Yellandu with all our force. The Lord 



OUR WORK. 183 

limited our rapidity of movement for his own glory, so 
it was not till October 9th that all was settled in Secun- 
derabad, and we started for Yellandu ; but within a week 
from that date we were very comfortably ensconced in 
our own quarters, at our new headquarters. It is not 
enough to say we were happy after so many years of camp 
division to be once more united. Shortly after we ad- 
justed ourselves in Yellandu, the Nizam's census officers 
came round and credited us with three houses; — 1, our 
bungalow; 2, temporary but comfortable rows in which 
our Eurasian girls, and servants live, and in which is our 
schoolroom; 3, the house occupied by our Eurasian boys. 
There were several other huts, cook-house, well, and sta- 
ble not numbered that we should not like to part with, 
and not the least our pleasant flower, fruit, and vegetable 
garden. We feel as though we had reached at last an 
earthly " promised land," but it is only our Headquarters. 
Our field is the hundreds of villages, in the great jungle 
areas of Telingana. 

In closing this brief history of twelve years' work for 
Christ, we must acknowledge this last was one of uncom- 
mon mercy. The earlier months saw us oft in need of 
praying " Give us this da3^ our daily bread." This did us 
no harm, and such a status vivendi is thoroughly scrip- 
tural and withal good for the soul. 

After securing the village we took out the necessary 
permit to clear the jungle, and, from the beginning of 
1890, we sold timber, realizing something towards our 
many needs. But the healthy necessity for prayer ever 
existed. In the end of 1883, against ourselves and all our 
prejudices, the Lord led us into so-called secular work in 
order to avoid pauperising our orphans, and to give them 
both the means of work, and acquiring independent busi- 
ness reliance and ability. For six years the Lord kept us 
to this line of work along with the orphans and coolies. In 
these six years we have executed in round numbers Rs. 



184 OUR WORK. 

350,000 of work for the Nizam's Government, the Nizam's 
State Railway, and the Hyderabad Deccan Co. We have 
migrated over a good deal of these spacious Dominions, 
have had dealings with several thousands of the laboring 
classes, have had no little kindness shown us by engineers 
and other officials, and have reaped a thousand blessings, 
with some hardships, deep-water trials, reverses and some 
successes. But now, a village secured, the necessity for 
any further contract work was gone. 

We therefore closed up all. On two occasions later, in 
time of some need, prepared either to receive or earn and 
receive, we offered a tender for available work. But in both 
cases when the contrary might have been expected, I failed 
to get the work, whereupon I assuredly gathered the Lord 
had closed this door to me, in just the same way He 
opened it years before. We praise His name. 

There were trials enough all along to keep us in mind of 
our need of providential and momentary protection. Our 
own little Nellie was found one day with a broken leg. How 
it happened, whether by fall or by wrenching in her bed, 
none knew, but in a few months she was two-legged again. 
Again, William Taylor, one of the twins, fell from a tree, 
where his love for flowers had enticed him, and broke his 
arm. He, too, rapidly recovered. Surgeon Major Back- 
house, one of her Gracious Majesty's efficient, christian, 
total abstinence, military doctors, put us under many and 
deep obligations by his most kind, generous and attentive 
treatment of our sick and wounded, for Christ's sake. Dr. 
Backhouse did us great kindness, and much of it during 
our last year in Secunderabad, for which he would accept 
no remuneration in money. The Lord bless the doctor for 
evermore. His Christian kindness was worth more than 
money to us. 

Another time Wesley Asbury, the other twin, was taken 
seriously ill, as we thought, while visiting at Capt. George 
Chooets. But he soon recovered, and these our oldest In- 



OUR WORK. 185 

dian friends put us under renewed deeper obligations for 
kindness. Little George Fletcher had his turn of sickness, 
but through all the Lord brought us. To Him be thanks 
and praise. No very serious sickness occurred among any 
of our native Christians or East Indian orphans. The 
shadow of God's favor was upon us. Now that the way 
was opening up, so far as the well-being of our native 
Christians was concerned, we began to pray and write for 
the better outfit of Homes and School, for the Eurasian 
orphan work. We have not yet seen the desire of our 
hearts. But we pray for at least Rs. 2,000 for Cottage 
Homes for them here in this place, with such good prospects 
of life work as the Mining Company's workshops afford. 

The good Lord whom we serve has seemed in a most 
signal manner to approve of our evacuation of Secunder- 
abad, and occupation of Yellandu. Before moving one 
day, while riding through the jungle of our village, we felt 
deeply weighed down with some emergencies of our mis- 
sion. It seemed as though a voice said "Why don't you 
pray?" I said "What! in this wet grass?" The same voice 
seemed to say, "Why not'*" I got down off my horse and 
in the wet grass poured out my soul to God. While pray- 
ing it was impressed upon me to be definite. I took out 
my note book and made some calculations, and the result 
was to continue my prayer, but asking for Rs. 5,000 in or 
near about a month of time. This was on September 10th, 
1890; well, we got settled in Yellandu, and on October 
17th, we received a strange cover, addressed "Chas. Ben. 
Ward, Missionary," from a distant point. Within we are 
informed that orders have been given for the payment to 
us of Government Rs, 5,000 for the native mission work in 
any way we judged best, and ' ' the donor desires no acknou l- 
edgment of his name in public, but would hear more of our 
work." We read and re-read, and could find no language 
to express our heart-fullness over the signal answer to our 
prayer of September 10th, On looking at the date of this 



186 OUR WORK. 

golden letter we found it " September 8, 1890. Thus when 
we prayed the answer was two days on the way. Does not 
this give us the exegesis of the Prophet's words " Before 
they call I will answer? " Oh, how timely came this help 
to cover moving, newly fitting up some needed additional 
room, medicines, school outfit, etc., etc. 

The Lord's gracious dealings with us are a miracle of 
mission wonders. Bless the Lord for all His boundless 
mercies ! 

Spiritually the Lord has blessed us all along, and we 
can't do better than index our present status. 

In August we attended the District Conference in Madras 
and briefly mentioned the Lord's open hand to us ; but how 
much more has come since that date. 

Early in October we took census with one another of our 
strength, and grace, and missionary zeal. We numbered 
about fifty members and probationers in the Church, repre- 
senting eigtheen families, about thirty little children, and 
twenty single persons, and a few others in the count. Most 
of the entire number of adults could thank God for some 
experience of saving grace, while others desired it. Fin- 
ancially, we found our tithes realizing about Rs. 50 per 
month, more or less. Bro. Chendaya, a solid christian, 
and ready expounder of the word, in fact, was pastor and 
preacher in the village. Being a man of business and 
property, he needed no salary for his christian services. 
At Yellandu, Yatty Hunama was a good exhorter and 
prayer leader. He being provided for, needed no salary. 
Then nothing seemed plainer than that now we should ap- 
ply our money for a definite missionary work from our own 
" Antioch." 

We therefore before the Lord, settled upon our plan as 
follows : we will send forth and support three native preach- 
ers, equipped with our prayers and outfit of tracts and gospels 
from January 1, 1891. Nursaya Naidoo, our faithful soldier, 
to be our missionary number one. 



OUR WORK. 187 

At this writing all the arrangements are being made for 
the commencement of this village evangelizing far and 
near. We believe that God will most signally own and 
bless us and this work, and early give us many souls in this 
white harvest field. 

On November 18, 1890, the Rev. G. K. Gilder, per in- 
structions from the Presiding Elder, Rev. A. H. Baker, 
came to see us and our work, and organize our Quarterly 
Conference with thirteen present. October n, 1884, under 
the presidency of Rev. D. O. Fox, our work was organized 
a Quarterly Conference, but no succeeding P. E. ever came 
to see the little flock, and it was thought we should now 
commence anew, as we did, with Bro. Gilder in the chair. 

Early in the month of October we got our Sunday school 
work in shape and have now, (1) English Sunday school, 
with about twenty attendance; (2) Telugu, with thirty and 
twelve attendance, respectively, while preaching services 
are regularly conducted both in English and Telugu in 
Yellandu at our home and in Telugu in the village. 

Our money coming in, the restoration of the village is 
in full swing, and a few months more will, D. V., see that 
work done, and the colony in shape for the management, 
hereafter, by our native Christians, while we lead on the 
war to regions beyond. Miss H. M. Bell, who a few years 
back left us for a time, to attend the Hyderabad medical 
school, has recently returned to us and now is our humble 
missionary teacher and doctor. A good field lies before 
us in this line of work. 

It is just to our friends and ourselves to let everybody 
know just how we stand and hold property. 

Early in the year, desirous of being intimately in line 
with the M. E. Church as a loyal "local preacher" should 
be, we asked Bishop J. M. Thoburn would he receive the 
$2,500 we were promised for our Colony, appoint a body 
of trustees, and disburse this money for the self-support- 
ing missionary work we were doing in the name of the M. E. 



188 OUR WORK. 

Church, but leaving us free as regards any missionary appro- 
priations, which we did not want, and guarantee the auton- 
omy of the work on non-subsidy lines. Said trustees hold- 
ing and administering solely and only in interests of non- 
subsidy mission work. We were led specially to make 
this overture to secure the status and title of the property 
in the M. E. Church, and thus avoid all the contingencies 
hanging over the personal holding of said property. We 
give the Bishop full credit for friendly feeling, good will 
and wishes. But he fancied he saw so many complications 
in the future regarding status of masters and workers, and 
advised, if we must go on, that we assume the full and 
personal responsibility of the whole movement. 

Well, the reply came like a mountain upon us at the 
time. We took it to the Lord with prayers and tears. 
Satan whispered, "The Methodists don't want you." I 
said, " I'd rather be Baptist, Wesleyan, or even Church of 
England, than be alone and independent." The Lord has 
shown a way, and we go on. The dangers of personal 
possession are all avoided, and the security of all our prop- 
erty to the M. E. Church, and the safety guarantee of all 
our principles and plans are secured in the following way, 
devised after the most careful counsel with men of legal 
acumen. 

/ have executed a " Will" to Bishop William Taylor's 
'''■Transit and Building Fund Society" of New York, for the 
purposes and e?ids of a self supporting mission work in the 
Nizam's Dominons, in the M. E. Church, of all property held 
by us, reserving to ourselves the undisturbed possession, man- 
agement, and control of all the same during our lifetime, under 
the same conditions and for the same purposes. This docu- 
ment is duly executed and duly registered in a duly author- 
ized Court of H. EL the Nizam's Dominions, and will be, 
ere these lines are read, in a safe deposit, to be held in 
trust for the Methodist Episcopal Church whatever may 
befall us. We have not decreed that any subsidized form 



OUR WORK. 189 

of work is therefore wrong or unworthy of support or oper- 
ation. But we have a conviction of what the Lord's will 
is in our case, that refuses to let us try any other. We 
fully believe the Lord would have us work on, raise up a 
church, and spread the work without any foreign subsidy 
for our own or other workers maintenance. Loyal to the 
church of our choice, we are constrained to be loyal to our 
principles and the Lord, believing that what He blesses 
us in, our brethren should have no cause to be ashamed of. 

We have done the best we could under the disabilities 
of the past, .and can truly rejoice that we have made 
already a little church, capable not only of caring for itself, 
but of sending forth three native evangelists~on their free 
will offerings. 

Other missions may have much to rejoice over. But we 
have Oh ! so much. Glory to God, in the highest now, 
while we see great things before. 

Our old fellow- worker, Bro. M. F. Smootz, who went 
home in 1888, is, while we write, saying farewells with his 
wife and will soon be with us in the work. 

We have a feeling that not many men are fitted for this 
sort of work. Bro. Smootz is, however, eminently fitted 
for a self-supporting missionary. His fingers are acquain- 
ted with this war, and his spirit is one with us. He is also 
a layman in the M .E. Church like myself. 

Just after reaching this point in our story we received a 
letter from orr generous friend Richard Grant, Esq., to 
say that he expected to send Rev. R. H. Madden, wife and 
son along with Bro. Smootz and wife to our work. We 
were informed Bro. Madden was a local preacher and Meth- 
odist carpenter. We rejoiced, and began to cast about us 
for the room for so great an addition to our working force. 
On the 17th of December, 1890, we began building a 
"Mission House," the foundations of which we had laid 
nearly a year before by faith. And we began building 
now, trusting that God who was sending us workers would 
also house them. 



i 9 o OUR WORK. 

Early in January, according to plans already referred to, 
we put forth two native preachers for purely evangelistic 
work in the surrounding villages and towns. They were 
Nursaya Naidoo, and Yatti Hunama. The third worker 
we did not have, that we might send him forth. The esti- 
mating committee of our native church fixed the salaries 
as follows: Nursaya Rs. 21, and Yatti Hunama Rs. n, 
per month, and each to feed his own pony and care for it. 
The ponies were bought by the church stewards, one for Rs. 
28 and one for Rs. 26. They began their itinerant work, 
preaching and peddling bibles, tracts, portions, etc., and 
at the end of this year are dilligently following this emi- 
nently Wesleyan and christian work. We cannot do bet- 
ter than enter here Nursaya' s report to the quarterly con- 
ference just at the close of the twelfth year of our work. 

PREACHER'S REPORT. 

YELLANDU. 

Dear Mr. President and christian friends ; 

I humbly report the following : — 

I came to Yellandu from Raichore about the 1st Janu- 
ary, 1 89 1, and began my work of going to the' village to 
preach from the 15th January, 1891. Both Brother Yatti 
Hunama and myself go out together to preach, and we are 
very glad and thankful indeed to the Lord for the way He 
is helping us in His work to preach the gospel to these vil- 
lagers called Koiwars. 

Truly the work is most encouraging and a hopeful one. 
The people are eager and ready to listen to the gospel, and 
they hear the same with much gladness and with attention. 
Some of these villagers invite us to their villages to preach 
to them. The gospel was never before preached to them. 

Of course the villages are very small and some of them 
have not more than a dozen huts, and in the twenty- two dif- 
ferent villages we visited I think it is very hard to find more 
than half a dozen men that could read, except in Yellandu. 



OUR WORK. 191 

God is blessing us and our work very much. No doubt 
that He is in our work. His spirit is working in the peo- 
ple's hearts and is convicting them of sin and their need of 
our Savior. May the Lord save some of them soon ; I 
believe He will. 

Total number of villages visited 29 

" " miles we traveled up, and not counting 

the miles traveled down 123 

" " " males heard the gospel, about 360 

" women " " " " 115 

" " " tracts sold, 133, and their value Rs. 6-0-0 

Besides the above — 

Total number of males heard the gospel in three days 
when Rev. Goldsmith was here was 

about 320 

" women " " •" " " 50 

M. Nursia Naidoo. 
Yellandu, 5th March, 1891. 

The missionary's report made at the same quarterly 
conference may be a matter of interest, and we give it . 

PASTOR'S REPORT. 

YELLANDU. 

We are glad to report progress and much encourage- 
ment. We are settled ; our work is becoming methodised, 
our village work is fairly and most encouragingly inaugu- 
rated under Bros. Nursaya Naidoo and Yatti Hunama, the 
first a local preacher, the second an exhorter. Work both 
in the village and our home here has become increasingly 
encouraging. The improvement in the spiritual tone and 
temper of our members as we buckle to the work more 
vigorously is matter for thankfulness. Sickness from fever 
has made us feel our need of constant providential care. 
The cold season is always more or less feverish any year. 



1 92 OUR WORK. 

After carefully going over our old rolls, we report now : 



Full members, native 



43 



English...., 10 53 

Probationers, native 2 

' ' English 9 11 

lotal members and probationers 64 

Little children, native 29 

English 9 38 

Five persons have been stricken off our rolls, 
for their lives promise little mending; yet 
we hope for them and count them in our 
community 5 

Other christians with us 4 

Their children 6 10 

Were we to count as part of our company those gone be" 
fore, we should report twelve little ones and eleven adults, 
who we believe have gone to be with Jesus from our church 
Three others are working for God, we trust, in other 
fields. Of those we had reason to believe were converted 
with us, seven fell away utterly, and there is little hope of 
their recovery ; of their whereabouts we know not. Three 
noble workers passed to their reward from our midst. As 
we glance back over the years we count up to date 140 
souls as having been in our church — old and young. We 
have with us now 102, while ten more souls not of our 
number are with us, and five excluded persons for whom 
we hope, give us a christian community of 117 souls at 
present. 

We have preaching places with regular christian worship 
three, (one English two Telugu.) Sunday schools, three, 
(the same, with an enrollment of about seventy-five, under 
ten teachers.) 

Moneys raised this quarter in the church, Rs. 128;. 
moneys raised this quarter in the Sunday school, Rs. 17,' 



OUR WORK. 193 

We feel devoutly thankful to God for his favor in grant- 
ing us a home in these dominions after ten years of 
migrating, during which his care over and for us has been 
wonderful and precious. 

At an early day we look for a great harvest of souls 
among these humble, simple, open-hearted villagers. 

C. B. Ward. 

Yellandu, March 5, 1891. 

While touching upon these internal concerns of our mis- 
sion, I must not fail to make note of a little institution 
among our native christians, the creation of necessity, for 
the adjustment of many matters pleasant and unpleasant 
in the native christian community. We felt the need of 
such an institution to relieve us of a certain line of care. 
We remembered what Jethro recommended to Moses lest 
he kill himself. Our minds were familiar with the " pan- 
chayet " idea of the Hindu village system, and we chris- 
tened the idea and appointed a " christian panchayet " of 
five of our most stable christian men, who were to take 
note of all cases of disorderly conduct, such as quarreling 
or wrangling, disagreements in business, etc., etc. They 
were to proceed as a court of inquiry and justice, making 
peace if possible, and awarding punishment of fines, 
admonishing, etc., keeping a full record of all such pro- 
ceedings ; the said record to be signed by the missionary 
to be binding. If the missionary on examination saw 
needful, he might enhance or reduce the awards of the 
" panchayet." 

We simply add, we have found this "panchayet" an 
invaluable institution among our christians. It has not 
only relieved us of much, but its influence for good among 
the native christian community has been very great. The 
panchayet commence and end all proceedings with prayer. 
We count this one more helpful item in the development 
of a self-reliant and upright christian community, and pray 
much for these five native brethren. 



i 9 4 OUR WORK. 

As the year was winding to a close, I found myself 
driven to much prayer for needed money for house building 
and village reconstruction ; when one evening I had come 
in from the village, having had another siege of prayer 
beneath the forest trees, from which I had risen greatly 
assured in my spirit, I was surprised to find a registered 
cover waiting me at home — another Rs. 5,000 from the dear 
brother who did not want his right hand to know the left's 
doing. We wondered we could have been troubled one 
moment over the necessities arising from the expected 
increase of our working force. The good Lord's gracious 
provision showed how needless was any anxious care. 

On the nth of March, Brother Smootz and wife, and 
Brother Madden, wife and son, landed in Bombay. The 
latter were soon with us in Yellandu. Bro. and Sister 
Smootz found a little son at the Temperance Hotel, March 
14th, (Mrs. Briggs, Proprietor,) that demanded their at- 
tention for a longer time in Bombay. 

We close the year with the joy of seeing the work of re- 
storing the villages under way. Our " Mission House" is 
begun, and we hope it may be the headquarters of a great 
work for God for one hundred years to come. 

We trust also the Lord willhave enabled us to erect all 
needed cottages for our Eurasian orphan work. The H. 
D. C. work-shops afford facility for the employment of 
many poor boys. If the Lord's will be for any enlarge- 
ment on this line, He will send the money for residence and 
school buildings. 

We may say that we feel one increasing concern, not 
only to teach the native christian to take care of himself, 
but by all legitimate means to teach him to multiply his 
productive power. We as e assured we have the blessing 
of the Lord in no mean measure already, and expect great 
things from God in days to come. 

We would not be understood by the above to be tent on 
setting up large European industries with extensive plant, 



OUR WORK- 195 

though we approve of even heavy mission industries, like 
the Basel Mission tile and cloth-making industries of the 
west coast. But we would help the Indian to improved 
methods, and such simple machinery as he can easily 
handle. We believe it is high time for missionaries to 
turn out some other goods besides writing material. God 
has called us to " make disciples," build Antiochs, send out 
laborers, and show those who stay at the plough, work- 
bench or mill their abundant ability to support the work, 
and teach them to relish intensely the glorious privilege of 
giving rather than to be forever receiving. We do en- 
joy the privilege of being an example in all we encourage 
our native christians to do. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

HOME BUILDING AND VILLAGE RECONSTRUCTION. 189I. 

In 1880, when appointed to go into the Telugu country 
and open a mission in the name of the Methodist Church, 
had I known all that was before me in the way of wander- 
ing and fruitless efforts to get land for our mission, I 
doubt not, I should have shrunk from the whole under- 
taking. Yet, at that time I was in no way fit to go out 
and do the thing I was selected for, and the Lord knew 
this better than my brethren did. He ordered accordingly, 
and all has turned out I trust for his glory. 

I not only was not rightly taught as to what I should do 
and how to do it, but I was without any helpers, without 
which no missionary or industrial undertaking in India can 
well succeed. But my long experience in contract work 
had given me a knowledge of work-people, of what they 
should do and what amount of it they should do for a given 
sum of money. I had meanwhile learned enough of prac- 
tical engineering to be my own engineer in any building 
or village construction, I was likely to have to do. But 
if possible more important than all the rest, I had now 
about me a body of christians, who could help me through 



196 OUR WORK. 

almost any undertaking that we might enter upon. Our 
thirteenth year was almost wholly spent in home building 
and village reconstruction. When in the end of '90, we 
received word from Richard Grant, that we were likely to 
get two married missionaries and their wives in the early 
part of 1 89 1, we had no place in which so large a company 
of missionaries could live. With no visible means to go on, 
in pure faith, in December, I began to build an upright of 
two stories to our mission house. Bro. R. H. Madden 
and wife reached us on the 18th of March. He, being a 
practical builder and contractor, was at once a great help 
to me in the many little problems of building. Under his 
supervision a work- shop was soon in working order. In it 
in a little time all the machinery that had come out with 
Bros. Smootz and Madden, was in and put to work. Here 
the brethren, and a number of the orphans and christians, 
worked for months, doing up the large amount of door and 
window and other wood work of our home. Houses to be 
habitable in India, need to be nearly all doors and windows. 
Our work-shop was a great saving to us, in that we did a 
large amount of our own work, which we could not have 
done, had we not had our own work-shop.- I should not 
omit to say that every bit of the wood used in our buildings 
at Yellandu, we cut in the forests within a couple of miles 
about us, cut it up, sawed it to size, and dressed it for 
whatever purposes we required it. All heavy sawing was 
done by pit-saws on contract, at about Rs. 5 per hundred 
square feet of sawing. Bro. Smootz came on from Bom- 
bay as soon as he could leave his wife and son. He took 
hold of the shop-work as well. He and Bro. Madden, for 
the most part, tongued and grooved about 1,500 feet of 
hard wood flooring, that native workmen did not know 
how to do well. 

Just when all was going on nicely and vigorously, Mrs. 
Madden fell sick and had to be removed to Secunderabad 
for better medical treatment. On the orders of a doctor, 



OUR WORK. 197 

Bro. Madden had to go to the sea-side with her, and under 
the conviction that she could not have good health in the 
interior, they took work in the Seaman's Rest of Bombay, 
and have been doing a good work there ever since. 

Soon after the arrival of reinforcements in Yellandu, it 
was thought best to send Sister Ward to Bangalore for a 
rest, and the children for a few months schooling. She 
remained there for five months and the twin boys re- 
mained there in the home of our old friends (Capt. Chooet 
and wife) and attended the Baldwin schools for about two 
years. 

I must say something about our village. When we took 
the village, we could only guess at the area and thought 
we had about 2,000 acres. But a more careful look over 
it convinced us, we had about 3,000. One-third of it was 
in forest and grazing land. Another third was so situated 
that it could be brought under wet cultivation, and the rest 
was well suited to dry cultivation. Dry cultivation is car- 
ried on by means of the rains. Wet cultivation is such as 
is carried on by artificial irrigation. Dry crops are in 
the main, corn, jo wary, oil plant, cotton, and vegetables. 
Wet crops are principally rice, sugar cane, and such things 
as ginger and saffron, that take a long time to mature. 
Wheat is grown both as wet and dry crop, according to lo- 
cation and soil. 

At some distant time this village had been in a fine state 
of improvement. It was some time before I could trace 
out all of the old system of water- storage and water-ways. 
When I did finally, I could see that whoever the engineer 
was, who planned and worked up the village, he under- 
stood his work and had done well up to the possibilities of 
the land. 

There had been one large tank, with a capacity for hold- 
ing about one million cubic feet of water. Then there 
was a smaller one that had about one tenth the capacity of 
the larger one, and seven other still smaller ones. All 



198 OUR WORK. 

these bunds were constructed of earth work, and were no 
other than dams thrown across a valley or hollow for the 
storage of water to be let off as required for purposes of 
cultivation. During the rainy season, from June to Oc- 
tober, these tanks are filled and then the water is used for 
rice growing largely during the rest of the year. 

The old dams were all there, but breached at one or 
more places, and otherwise in need of repair, when the 
village fell into my hands. Probably it had been in dis- 
repair from the time the Mahommedans desolated the coun- 
try in the thirteenth century. The task before us was to 
restore the old improvements and improve on them if pos- 
sible. I began on the big tank and first filled up the 
breaches and then proceeded to raise the whole dam or 
bund, eight feet higher than it had ever been. I found 
that we had eight square miles of drainage area and would 
in any ordinary year get much more rain than would be 
required to fill the tank, even as I increased its capacity 
to about two millions of cubic feet. The more water we 
were able to store the more valuable would be our prop- 
erty. I proceeded to level over the old work and see how 
much that work had to be raised and took levels for sluices 
and water channels, till I knew just what we could do and 
what must be done. We put in a good deal of time this 
whole year on this work. We had a large force of coolies 
on the earth- work and in all threw up no less than one mil- 
lion cubic feet of earth-work, and constructed about 10,000 
feet of stone masonary, and before the rains of '91 came, 
we were ready for them. This work I was more partic- 
ularly engaged upon, while other brethren were at work 
on the mission houses. It was a busy year for us all. 

It was a matter of general cheer to find that we had 
made no serious blunders at any point in our works, either 
on the tanks or the buildings. The tank stood the test 
when it filled up, and the house was all right. In the vil- 
lage we had considerable of forest clearing to do. to get 



OUR WORK. 199 

ground to use our water upon. The whole place had been 
in ruins so long that it had grown up with small and large 
forest growth. This we did during the early months after 
the rains began. 

While we were thus busy for the most part, our preach- 
ers were all the time on the wing in the villages for fif- 
teen to twenty miles around us. Sundays we all joined in 
the work of the church and open warfare in the bazaars. 
We saw no conversions, but met with great encourage- 
ment in every branch of our work. 

In August our District Conference met in Secunderabad. 
I had been put down for a paper for the Madras District 
Conference the previous year. I had the ' ' Press as a Mis- 
sion Agency" for a topic. Notwithstanding I was given 
another paper on "Wesley" for this conference. The 
session was a good one and Bishop Gilder served us well 
in the absence of the other bishop of India. At the close 
of the conference I went to Bangalore for Sister Ward and 
so many of the children as were to return with her. With 
them I brought a good supply of fruit trees and flowering 
plants for the village and home garden. On this trip I 
read the Memories of Missionary Hebich, and also the Foot- 
prints of an Itinerant. It is my habit to read a good deal 
as I travel. Thus I am able to take in a good deal that I 
otherwise would never be able to pick up. Often do I 
borrow a book for a day or two and get through it at times 
when many think they cannot do any reading. I suppose 
I read every year thus twenty good-sized books that I do 
not own. While in Bangalore, it was our privilege to at- 
tend meetings held by the Salvation Army. I always have 
a warm heart for these dear fellow- workers, and as oft as 
any of them come, as they do about once a year, our home 
is their home as long as they wish to make it so. The 
meetings at Bangalore at this time were made a great 
blessing to us all and to Capt. Chooet's family. 

Before we reached home in September Bro. and Sister 



2oo OUR WORK. - 

Smootz had been called upon to part with their little son. 
They were in deep sorrow over it. 

Toward the latter part of September heavy rains set in 
and we were in some concern as to whether our fresh work 
would stand a sudden and heavy pressure. Oft times we 
prayed over the tank asking God to protect it. One night 
we seemed to be in danger and late at night we went to the 
tank and after doing all we could to make things secure we 
knelt down upon the top of the work and commended it all 
to God. Many little springs opened out at the back and at 
times made us solic t his, but by watchfulness we were 
able to keep all in a condition of safety. It was a pleasure 
to us at last to ascend the bund about forty feet high at the 
deepest point in the valley where the little river, we had 
damned with our bund, meandered through and look over 
to the front, over a spread of water a half a mile wide and 
more than a mile in length. We felt that we had a small 
christian fortune in this water. But I must not fail to tell 
how the people about us looked upon our prospects. When 
the old tank had stood, a wretched and well nigh shapeless 
stone idol was lodged on the top of the bund and the tank 
was supposed to be under the protection of the goddess 
Maisamma, whose representation this stone idol was. This 
goddess is supposed to be in charge of all the tanks of the 
country. And every tank is ornamented with this idol. If 
the tank breaches, it is supposed to be because this god- 
dess is aggrieved about something. That she may have 
nothing to complain of, she is propitiated with sacrifices of 
sheep and goats very frequently, When I was ' building 
up my large tank bund I had covered up this idol some 
three feet deep and not long after was surprised to find it 
up top again and leaning, against a tree. On inquiry I was 
told by some of the heathen villagers that this idol had 
climbed up out of more than three feet of earth. There- 
upon I gathered it up and carrying it upon my head a little 
ways, to a spot where the water was nearly thirty feet 



OUR WORK. 201 

deep, I then in sight of the people who venerated the thing 
hurled it into the water where I was su re none of them 
would think of resurrecting it again, and told them that if 
Maisamma came up out of that resting place and sat down 
under the tree again I would believe in her. They had 
dug her up before, but I knew they would not try a dive of 
thirty feet. Then they said the tank would never stand. 
Because of the insult; to Maisamma, the work was all sure 
to go when the rains came. I asked them why it was that 
Maisamma had not taken care of the tank before, if she 
was any good. They could not answer this question, but 
knew my work would not stand with the idol in the bot- 
tom. So all the time that the rains were coming and we 
were anxious, these people were looking on and expecting 
it to go. So we prayed the more earnestly to God to keep 
it and show these people that their idol was nothing. So 
strongly did the people believe that the tank would go 
that we could not get them to prepare any land below the 
tank for rice as they were sure it would be all lost labor. 
The water was not going to stand. Well it did stand and 
these poor people now think we are superior to the idol and 
they have confidence in us and our engineering and fear no 
more to prepare to plant below our tank. 

But we did not forget missionary work in all this build- 
ing and engineering. I think it was in October I wrote, a 
very earnest appeal for a number of Methodist missiona- 
ries for the Nizam's Dominions. This appeal was to be 
sent to the Missionary Secretaries at New York. Bro. 
Gilder and Miss Blackmar of Hyderabad thought it better 
to send it to the " Gospel in all Lands " for publication. I 
do not know that it was ever published. I do know the 
need still stands, and the heathen are perishing for want 
of bread from heaven, by the thousand yearly all about us 
where we ought to be at work. 

As the year wore on, another evil had to be met, The 
Government sells the right to make and sell liquor by dis- 



202 OUR WORK. 

tricts and then the contractor sets up his little distillery 
and retail shop wherever he chooses and works death and 
damnation broadcast. I went to the Government and 
offered the amount of money that would be realized out of 
the liquor trade on our village if the liquor could be pro- 
scribed within our borders. Of course I got no reply as 
the precedent would be bad. But we watched the fellow 
so close that he soon went over the boundary line and sells 
all the same, but not on our land though to some of our 
heathen renters I more than fear. We have no christians 
who drink or use tobacco but the price of our liberty is 
eternal vigilance. And so we fight both devils wherever 
we find them in either church or state. 

During this year I had many precious seasons of prayer 
with my Presiding Elder who gave me hearty sympathy 
in all my plans and often helped me with kindly advice. 
On the 7th of November I was in Hyderabad and we had 
a half night of prayer. It was a great time of blessing to 
us both. We prayed for ourselves and the work of God in 
the Dominions. The following night we continued longer 
in prayer. It was a time of faith strengthening. In the 
months that followed we both saw much that came to pass 
in such a way as to leave us no doubt that it was the handi- 
work of God in answer to the prayers of those nights of 
prayer. Just after this Bro. Smootz and the preachers 
went to the Jeedkul Jatri for a few days, and did good 
work preaching, selling books, tracts and doing other gos- 
pel work. Rama had returned to us from America in 
September, and this was about the first outing he had after 
his entering upon the work after rejoining us. After he 
had been left by Brother Smootz in America he had gone 
to the Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. But he 
found it very hard to keep up with young men that had had 
the advantage of so much more preliminary study than he 
had, and soon began to long for India. I had letters from 
him telling me he found it very hard work and yet I did 



OUR WORK. 203 

not think of his getting back to us at all soon. Dr. Bash- 
ford was more than kind to him and helped him to appoint- 
ments in Ohio and he told his story in their misrionary 
meetings and took what was given him and soon had 
$160. The story of his life was a means in hand of mak- 
ing most of his passage money back to India. Then Dr. C. 
H. Payne helped him to $50, and he set out for his India 
home, without telling us that he was coming. While in many 
cases an India lad is spoiled by a trip to America, it was 
the making of a man of Rama. He went to work as a 
preacher almost as soon as he reached Yellandu. When 
he came back, as a matter of course he was dressed as an 
American boy would have been, with trousers and coat 
and hat. I did not broach the subject of a return to his 
former costume, and yet it was evident he did not want at 
first offset to change his American dress for a humbler 
Indian one. I did not say a word to him as to his future 
work, till one day he came to me to ask what work he was 
to have. I asked him what he would like to do. He said 
he had no other desire than to preach the gospel. I asked 
him what mission he intended to work in. Saying at the 
same time that some missions like the Baptist and Wes- 
leyan allowed their preachers to Europeanize as much as 
they pleased in dress, though it in every case injured the 
man's personal influence among his countrymen, and oth- 
ers like ourselves were dead set against this evil. He was 
for a moment disposed to argue the dress question. I said 
I would not argue the question with him but that it was 
better for. him to decide to join some mission he was 
thoroughly convinced was in the right in the matter. He 
was free to make his choice. That day he could not 
decide. But not long after he appeared before me one 
morning dressed as the rest of his brethren were dressed, 
and with a bright and beaming face asked me if I would 
now give him work. I promptly replied that I would. I 
saw at a glance that the battle had been fought and won 



2o 4 OUR WORK. 

on the right side. His name was brought before the 
church and his salary fixed at about Rs. 15 per month. He 
soon took rank as a plodding, faithful preacher and is to- 
day one of the most promising young men we have in our 
mission. Watchnight of 1891 into 1892 was a precious 
time. After the meeting broke up I went to prayer alone 
and besought God for every person in our family and mis- 
sion old and young. The day after, I married Henry 
Hayden to Alice G. Thomson. Both were our own, and 
had been many years with us. Henry had been a long 
time apprenticed in the Mining Company's work shop and 
was now getting moderate pay, and we took this occasion 
to divide up a little, and the Eurasian boys lived with them 
at our expense and the girls remained with us. The same 
day Rama was married to Gungama and in this marriage 
we were well pleased. 

I had been for some time curious to trace the Koiwars 
we found about us to their sua patria. In January of 1891 
I had planned to go on a tour to Bastar. Just before I 
was to have started I was down with fever and had to 
drop the idea, for that year. But the idea was not aban- 
doned. Having written to Dr. Frazer of Raipur whose 
son was a commissioner, for any letters of introduction 
that he could give me to officials that would help me in 
Bastar, I received a reply that meant a great deal to me. 
The Rajah of Bastar had died and Commissioner Frazer 
was in charge of the state and purposed to make a tour 
to the state in March, and would be glad to see me there. 
My letter was written some time in November of 1891 
I think. The answer came in Jany. of 1892. I seemed to 
See the guiding hand of God bidding us to follow up the 
Koiwars to the bounds of their earthly habitation and as 
well could I hear a voice say the way was now open. 

Accordingly, I made ready to take a tour with Nursaya 
and Rama as my companions. Brother Smootz was left 
in charge of all outdoor work, and he had the work in 



2o6 OUR WORK. 

the village so well in hand, that I had no doubt he 
could as well attend to it as I could. The workshop was 
also in his hands < and Sister Ward took the responsi- 
bility of the home. On the 2d of February, with two 
small carts for our things, we set out on foot, expecting to 
be gone a couple of months, and see the home of the 
Koiwars. As the Bastar business belongs more properly 
to the next chapter, we leave it for the present. 

The year had been one of great improvement in the 
spiritual condition of our church and our aggressive .spirit. 
Although all the work was not yet completed on the 
village, nor were all our buildings finished, yet we had 
pushed through the bulk of it, and we began to feel 
that we were getting better fixed for missionary work than 
we had ever been before. We had a landed foothold for 
our christian settlement and homes for ourselves, which we 
had never had at the close of previous weary years. This 
year the " Transit and Building Fund Society " gave us for 
the passage of new missionaries and home building $ 6 ? ooo, 
or about Rs. 20,000. Before we set out for Bastar, Brother 
Grant had written us that a young doctor was about ready 
to come to India for our work. The command to me 
seemed to be "Go forward." In many respects this was 
the biggest year in our history in substantial results. 

The matter has often been spoken of as though we 
wasted much precious time in so much ordinary work. 
Well, when our friends have secured judgment against 
Paul for wasting his time in Thessalonica (1 Thess, ii. 9; 
2 Thess, iii. 8), in Corinth for eighteen months (Acts xviii. 
3; 2 Cor. xi. 9), and in Ephesus three years (Acts xx. 33- 
45; 1 Cor. iv. 12), working with his own hands, we shall 
gladly answer summons to court. Our spectacles have 
never been able to find anything more secular in what Paul 
did or we do, than the popular form of missionary work 
embodied in school-teaching. 

Paul's object was not simply to support himself or those 



OUR WORK. 207 

with him. We find him pleading the sacred right to be an 
" ensample to induce others so to labor and support the 
weak, (Acts xx. 35; 2 Thess. iii. 9), and, secondly, to leave 
no occasion for any insinuations of selfishness or covetous- 
ness, (Acts xx. 33; 1 Cor. ix. 12; 2 Cor. xi. 12.) 

We have been tried and trained, and after twelve years' 
experience feel that we can personally confess to the same 
conviction Paul carried about (1 Cor. ix. 15; 2 Cor. xii, 9- 
10). We are quite aware of all it means. Paul freely 
confessed the hardships (1 Cor. iv. 11; 2 Cor. xi. 27), and 
we, too, have so deep an appreciation of the value of the 
way, just as it is, that we count our privilege a high 
honor. 

We praise God for all the wondrous love displayed to 
usward along this way. Mightily have we been helped in 
trouble, and in darkest hours has he raised us up new and 
most precious friends. Brother Richard Grant has put us 
under deepest bonds of gratitude in giving us the capital 
for our christian colony, and doubtless his prayers shall be 
of more value to us than his money in the years to come. 
We prize the help of friends who follow their money with 
increasing prayers. Such help is spiritual dynamite. The 
christian who has sent us Rs. 10,000 has our devoutest 
thanks. The Lord has our unceasing praise for his uplift 
to every branch of our mission work. 

We are grateful to God and man, and submit that all the 
goodness of the past is prophetic. Let therefore every 
reader of this story bow down and pray for us and our 
church and work. We still repeat, grace is a greater need 
than rupees. 

Be we wholly the Lord's, and the anointing of the Holy 
spirit upon each worker and convert, and nothing can hin- 
der the Lord gathering by us many thousands of souls. 

We have no notion of sitting down in Yellandu. During 
1892 we hope to explore the country for at least two more 
stations in connection with this one. We can already see 



2o8 OUR WORK. 

God's finger pointing out the way and the centers. We 
have already had two Macedonian invitations, not while 
sleeping, nor from angels. 

We believe the way is opening and the money forthcom- 
ing for an extensive self-support faith-and-works mission 
work. It has come to us more and more that the Lord 
has been training us for such work all these fifteen years 
since we came to India, Unto the Lord we say, humbly, 
" We are thy servants." 

May ' ' the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich and 
addeth no sorrow " come on every reader of this story. 

Humbled by our mistakes and shortcomings, we bow 
our heads and ascribe to the Father, the Son and the Holy 
Spirit all praise and glory, for all the mercy ana the good 
of these years so swiftly flown. 

Behind, " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Before, 
' i My God shall supply all your needs, according to his 
riches in glory by Christ Jesus," meets our eyes and 
nerves our hearts. 

CHAPTER IX. 

A FORWARD MOVEMENT AND SATAN'S COUNTERPLOT. 1892. 

The great feature of the year before us was the explor- 
ation of Bastar. I have already stated how we started on 
our tour and now I shall try to tell something of what we 
saw and what followed. Fifty miles from home we crossed 
the Godavery river which at that point was about two miles 
wide and with banks fifty feet high. In the time of the 
floods it runs full to the brim and sometimes overflows for 
miles on either side. At this time it was at low flood yet 
we had to ferry over. We, our things and carts were taken 
over in boats made of two hollow logs of about thirty feet 
in length, roped fast together. Each log was hollowed 
out like a watering trough. As we rode over, our cattle 
swam by the side of the boats. On the eastern shore we 
were near a very noted shrine sacred to the memory of 



OUR WORK. 209 

Rama, one of the most popular gods of the Hindoos in 
south India. For years we had been accustomed to see 
many thousands go every year, in the month of April, to 
this place. But had never seen it ourselves. In the eve 
of February 4, 1892, we walked up to see the temple and 
whatever of note there might be, to be seen. We ap- 
proached the great temple enclosure and as we walked 
along the great high wall, were shocked at the unname- 
ably obscene carvings upon the face of that granite wall. 
There it has stood for centuries to educate the old and 
young who come there annually, in all that is vile and sens- 
ual. I have seen and conversed with hundreds of men 
who have visited this place, but never can a heathen man 
be found vile enough to tell of what he has seen on those 
temple walls, any more than as though he had never been 
there. I had a heathen workman with me, and he had 
been there, and had graphically described the buildings to 
me but omitted all mention of these vile pictures. I 
turned to him and said : ' ' Yenkaya, never say any more 
to me of the excellence of the Hindoo religion which de- 
files every worshiper that approaches her shrines." The 
poor fellow looked down his nose in silence and shame. 
At the great door we met a lot of sleek and lazy Brahmins 
and they were anxious to show us about the glorious tem- 
ple of Ramchandra. I declined to look about so unclean 
a place and proceeded to say to them that did they teach 
the people or their children or do aught for the sick or the 
poor there might be some excuse for their taking heavy 
alms of the people. But when I now saw that they pre- 
sided over an institution that could but educate all the 
adults and children vho visited the place in the most 
shameless sin, it was easy to understand why so many 
childless mothers were urged by the priests to visit them, 
and make offerings, that they might have children, and to 
my mind the fact that their little town was overrun with 
prostitutes was fully explained. And with many other 



2io OUR WORK. 

words did I pile it onto them from a heart full of indigna- 
tion that under the name of religion such vileness should 
be thus openly taught. They defended themselves saying 
that such things were sculptured there that people might see 
and avoid such sin. Then I said openly commit sin your- 
selves that people may see and shun. I learned afterward 
that much was said of my temerity in attacking the priests 
and their religion thus openly, for we had quite an audience 
before we had finished. It was more than intimated that 
some dreadful things would most likely happen to me or 
mine in a little time, because I had so wantonly insulted 
the god. Up to this time I had no knowledge of any such 
filthiness on heathen temples in India. Since, however, I 
learn that what I saw at Budrachellum, on the banks of the 
Godavery, is more or less common to many large temples 
in various parts of the country. 

We pushed on after this, sixteen miles down the east 
bank of the river to the camp of the ''Godavery Coal Co." 
Here we were the guests of Mr. Phillips the mining engi- 
neer. While here over Sunday, I saw a sight I shall never 
forget. Myself and preachers went out to preach and near 
where we took up our stand was a licensed grog shop. 
Along the east bank of the Godavery between the Nizam's 
Dominions and the native state of Bastar is a narrow strip 
of land belonging to the British Government. We were upon 
British territory this Sunday, and the liquor shop was a 
British institution. When we tried to preach, we observed 
that many were drunk. They were however, Koiwars, 
and not Hindoos, and here we had for the first time a 
chance to see how differently liquor affected them from 
anything we had ever seen. One man in the best of 
humor, came up to us to tell us how drunk the rest of 
them were, and he was certainly as drunk as any of them. 
While still we tried to preach, we observed one man hurry 
up to another and throw his arms around his brother's neck 
and oh, how he kissed him. Then the embracing became 



OUR WORK. 211 

mutual and the kissing was as heartily reciprocated. Then 
we saw others sitting flat upon the ground and two, three 
and four at a time trying to hug each other. More than 
once they rolled over and over trying to do it. And thus it 
went on for an hour. We saw not a single person who 
was quarrelsome among perhaps twenty, and of all the 
comical antics I ever saw monkeys perform, none were 
equal to what we saw here to-day at the hands of these 
aborigines whose domain we were starting out to explore. 
My soul was stirred at the thought that a christian govern- 
ment , simply for revenue, would thus wantonly debauch 
these simple minded inhabitants of the forest. It is a 
great shame that God will avenge. 

After getting all the information we could as to the way 
into Bastar, we started on, and soon found ourselves get- 
ting deeper and deeper into dense jungle or forest. On 
the 13th of February, w r e found ourselves at Kunta, one of 
the five districts or Tashildar's headquarters, in Bastar. 
Here we began to find out that we had a long and very 
roundabout road to travel to get to the capitol, Jagdalpur 
Mountains stood before us and we could not go by any 
direct route with our carts* As the crow flies it was 
about 120 miles, but as we had to go it was 180. As a 
part of our work was to see the people as well as the 
country we did not look on this as at all evil. We were 
here over Sunday and had a good time preaching to the 
people. Everywhere they showed much respect and heard 
us gladly. It was our custom to walk on with our guides 
and let the carts follow up as fast as they could. Taking 
turns, we would get into conversation with the guides we 
had always from one village to another, and then get as 
much out of them about their religion and customs as we 
could and then so importunately preach the gospel to them 
— which in most instances, he had never heard of before, 
that he would be so full of it by the time we left him that 
he would go back to his own village and tell it all over to 



2i2 OUR WORK. 

his fellow villagers. We had two guides always as they 
were afraid, owing to the existence of wild animals along 
the way, to return alone The last day alone will reveal 
how much good we did by this wayside preaching to sin- 
gle individuals as we traveled the wilds of Bastar for the 
fir? t time. Wherever we camped out at night we preached 
to as many as we could collect to hear. At a place called 
Golapilli we found about 200 people gathered together for 
a bazaar. There being no large towns in this country, we 
found that people made one day a week a bazaar day and 
from every direction in came the people with all sorts of 
wares and grains, and the day would be spent in bartering 
the one thing for another. Very little money was hand- 
led. When everything was in full blast we asked the peo- 
ple to stop selling a little while and we would tell them 
something. They consented and Nursaya, Rama and 
myself all tried to tell them of the love of Christ in that 
he had saved us and wanted to save them. They gave us 
great attention and did not seem to begrudge us the time 
that they gave us as some christians would have done. On 
the 20th we had made our way as far up into the country 
as Jiggergonda, near the foot of the mountains that form 
the western border of the plateau of Bastar. Here we 
spent another Sunday. We had walked about seventy 
miles each of the two weeks out now. Monday, finding 
that we could not ascend the plateau from this place but 
must turn back and go northwest about eighty miles and 
then run east along the Indiavatti river valley, I decided to 
make the climb to the top of the mountains and see what 
might be seen from the top. With a single companion 
and the gun, I started out at an early hour and was on the 
top by about sunrise. But what a sight. For fifty miles 
away to the west lay the land gradually descending to the 
Godavery. One great stretch of forest with small villages 
here and there interspersed, marked to my eye by curling 
smoke rising from the village fires alone. East of me I 



OUR WORK. • 213 

could see no distance to speak of, bat I knew Bastar's fer- 
tile plateau lay there. As I stool and gazed on either 
hand I could distinctly hear the roar of waterfalls. As I 
stood the sun gilded all the scene before me and I felt con- 
strained to pray and praise. I thanked God for the scene 
and then it came to me to pray for all at home and the 
boys at school and then for all this beautiful land so long- 
in heathen night. As I prayed it came on me more and 
more that it was for me to do something to redeem that 
land from errors' chain. I prayed for missionaries for this 
needy field, for I fo.md that no mission was in the field 
anywhere. • I have never had any doubt since that memo- 
rable Washington's birthday of 1892 that I had business in 
Bastar. From that on, I began to formulate plans for the 
occupation of the land in the name of the Lord and Meth- 
odism. More than a year before Bishop Thoburn had said, 
go and look up the aborigines and I had come not alto- 
gether sure that I was exploring for myself, so much as 
for some one else. But from this day I seemed to see 
that as God had permitted me to see this country, he 
meant I should pioneer the gospel into it. I came down 
from the hill that morning feeling that I had been to a 
mount of God and when at 11 a. m., having walked up 
and down sixteen miles, I reached the brethren in camp, 
my soul was full of love for souls and joy in God. 

The next morning we started again and before noon we 
past a large company of Koiwars at a wedding feast. About 
200 were together, all sitting in a ring around a large tree, 
and liquor was being freely dished out to them, men wo- 
men and children. It was something new to me to see 
both sexes thus together but I soon found that these peo- 
ple allowed their women more liberty than the Hindoo. 
We preached to them a while and moved on. The liquor 
they were drinking was made of rice and was intoxicating 
though it took a good quantity to make them drunk. 
Later in the day we camped at a village named Mundi- 



2i 4 OUR WORK. 

murka and had a good time preaching to the people 
there. 

Thus we traveled and preached from day to day till we 
reached Vijyapur, another Tashildar's headquarters. 
Here we got information that Commissioner Frazer had 
started around Bastar to the east, and would go down to 
Kunta, and then follow up the same route we had come, 
and eventually come to Vijyapur. I therefore concluded 
that our best course was to travel on to Jagdalpur, explor- 
ing as we went, and get back to this place in time to meet 
the Commissioner's camp. So on we plodded, through 
forests, villages and out on the trail of tigers we never met, 
and in one instance on the track of two fine bison, preach- 
ing to our guides, picking all we could out of them about 
their customs and religion, till at last we passed the 
bounds of the Telugu language. As we turned the spur 
of the Baila Dila mountains, we came upon an old filthy 
place of note, the seat of the worship of Danteshwari or 
Kali, the goddess of cruelty, to whom once human sacri- 
fices were made. This goddess was the Bastar Rajah's 
deity. As the story goes, when the Mohamedans took the 
Telugu kingdom of Warangul, the original Bastar prince 
or king was a refugee from Rajputana and a guest of the 
king of Warangul. The goddess Danteshwari took him in 
charge and said to him I will show you a greater kingdom 
than you ever had. She took him to the home of the 
aborigines, east of the Godavery and told him to take all 
he wanted. Thus he became possessed of the state now 
known as Bastar in area about 13,000 square miles, and a 
population of about 350,000 at the present time. Danta- 
warra at the junction of two small rivers was made the 
home of the goddess. And here perhaps later than at any 
other place in India was human sacrifice offered. The 
last case which occurred, about ten or twelve years ago, 
was so clear that the pujari was removed from the temple 
and his young sons were made joint priests in his room, 



OUR WORK. 215 

with such limitations as to expenses and liberty as make it 
sure that there will be no more human sacrifice there. I 
later saw the old murderer who no doubt murdered many 
a victim in that place in the name of religion. The wor- 
ship of the goddess is a part of Hinduism, and is not a 
part of the religion of the aborgines. It is the Rajah's re- 
ligion and he supports it. The people look on, and join in 
the sports that form so large part of the Hindoo feast. In 
the evening of the day we were here we went to see the 
temple and the town and were asked to take off our boots 
that we might enter the temple and see the idol. My re- 
ply to this was, that I could not take off my boots to an 
idol. If required, I was prepared to show this respect to 
God who made heaven and earth, but never to an idol. 
And there and then preached Jesus Christ on the threshold 
of the temple and exhorted these idolators to turn away 
from such things to the living God. We were told that no 
such want of respect to Danteshwari was ever before 
shown. 

The rest of our way to Jagdalpur was through a country 
well watered and well settled and one of beauty. The 
weather was much colder than we were accustomed to at 
Yellandu, even in the coldest weather of our winter. On 
the morning of the 4th of March we saw forty-six degrees 
for a little time. This was the only time in all my eighteen 
years in India that I ever saw the thermometer below fifty 
degrees. Sunday March 6th, we were in the capitol of 
Bastar nearly 300 miles from home and glad of a chance to 
rest. On Monday we began the exploiting of the town. 
The Naib Dewan or assistant Superintendent of the state 
was very kind to us and gave us all the information that 
we desired. He lent me a horse to ride about the place 
upon, and see all there was to be seen in the shortest time. 
The good animal was an intelligent one, and as soon as he 
had gone as far as he thought was good, he very promptly 
liy right down in the road. He did this several times with 



216 OUR WORK. 

such general good nature, that I took the hint and came 
home with him. Jagdalpur is a town of about 7,000 in- 
habitants situated on the south bank of the Indavatti river 
on the nineteenth parallel of north latitude. Its poverty 
stricken, filthy appearance, showed the blight of idolatry at 
every turn. The Rajah's palace was only a grass hut and 
the Government buildings were a little better. But the 
residences of the people were no better than the poor vil- 
lage huts all over the country. There was no trade or in- 
dustry, and no shops of any consequence in the town. If 
ever a place on earth needed the gospel it was Jagdalpur. 
About the place w T ere some of the finest groves of mango 
trees I have ever seen. In one of these, the Monday of 
our stay there was held a bazaar like the one I have 
already described but attended by about 8,000 people of all 
nations and kindreds and tongues. I never before saw 
such an assemblage of mixed races. And when all of 
them got at their business, buying and selling the sound 
was as that of mighty rushing waters. We walked among 
the people for hours, studying them. We could not un- 
derstand their language for they spake many. There were 
some Hindoos among them, but the bulk of them were 
aborgines. There was one school with 120 pupils in the 
town, and an excuse for a hospital. Now that the Rajah 
was dead, the state had fallen into the " Court of Wards " 
till the little Rajah, aged eight, should be fit to take it 
over. Thus British rule had come to bless this long op- 
pressed people and with the blessings will come the liquor 
and opium curses. A magnificent large tank lies to the 
west of the town, and from it largely comes the water sup- 
ply of the town, though good water can be had by putting 
down wells. A w r ell regulated jail and work-shop is found 
here and only a few prisoners are in the jail. The state 
has hitherto taken its taxes on lands in kinds, and thus a 
great store house to receive it, was a necessity. There 
was a few years ago, no coin whatever in the state. All 



OUR WORK. 217 

business was carried on in kind or barter. But the Brit- 
ish Government has begun to introduce its coinage and 
soon money will be found everywhere. 

While here I received word that the Nizam's Govern- 
ment had taken steps to confiscate our village property at 
Yellandu. This was Satan's counterplot to confound us 
and try to break down our faith and bewilder us that we 
might abandon the advance on Bastar. But I did not fal- 
ter nor did I for one moment believe that we should lose 
our property or be compelled to leave Bastar as we found 
it, for no one could tell how long, till others should come 
to see it. 

We turned back on the 9th of March and on the 1 6th en- 
tered Vijyapur to find we were ahead of the Commissioner. 
On the following day he came and we saw him, and gave 
him a petition, asking permission to open five mission sta- 
tions in Bastar and begging the favor of leases of land in 
each station. To this I received the following official 
docket the very next day : 
From 

A. H. L. Frazer, Esq., I. C. S. 
Commissioner, 

Chhattisgurh Division, C. P. 
No. 171 of 1893. 
To 
Rev. C. B. Ward, 

Missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Dated Camp the 18th of March, 1892. 

Sir: 
I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter 
of yesterday's date. There are two separate questions 
raised therein. 

(1.) As regards sites for buildings there will be no 
trouble in granting you suitable sites in Bastar for such 
buildings as you indicate on terms that will secure your 
possession of them free of charge so long as they are used 



218 OUR WORK. 

for such purposes as you mention. When your plans are 
matured you can apply to the Superintendent of the Bas- 
tar State. 

(2.) As regards your purpose to establish villages, I 
would refer you to the scheme which has just been formu- 
lated for leasing waste villages in the Bastar State. This 
scheme probably supplies all that you require. In that 
case you should apply to the Superintendent of the Bastar 
vState for such villages as you are prepared to settle. The 
Rules regarding this scheme have been given you for in- 
formation and guidance. 

I have etc., 
Signed 

A. H. L. Frazer, 

Commissioner. 

My meeting with tne commissioner was all that I could 
have asked for. He was a christian and believed that the 
British Government owed something to the souls of men 
as well as to their bodies. He did not conceal his sympa- 
thy with our plans. He gave us every encouragement to 
push on, while the field was virgin soil. He farther gave 
us a letter of introduction to another officer, who later on 
helped us to land in Sironcha, on the banks of the Goda- 
very, 120 miles farther up than where we crossed when we 
started for Bastar. We had found out that the way into 
Bastar was not the way that we had taken, but via Sironcha, 
and so decided to take up that station. 

Now we saw our way, and set out for home, still ex- 
ploring country and people as we went, and reached home 
on the 4th of April, just two days over two months away 
from home. We had walked about 700 miles and preached 
to several thousands of poor people, that had for the most 
part never heard of Jesus before, and had official permis- 
sion to plant missions all over the home of the Koiwar, 
and a conviction that I had at last dropped upon the work 
for which I had been all these years getting my lessons in 
God's school. 



OUR WORK- 2i 9 

Shortly after my return I wrote, though owing 1 to an 
error of my own, it was never published, the following 
lines : 

"Myself and two of my native preachers, Nursaya Naidu, 
and Rama Gnanappa, set out, on the 2nd of February, for 
a somewhat extended tour of exploration among the ab- 
origines whom some have called Gonds. The word 
Gonds means people who live in the hills. There are yet 
some two millions of these aborigines living in Central 
India, divided up into about thirty different tribes, some 
of them very small, while the largest tribe numbers about 
400,000. The aborigine is the prearyan inhabitant of In- 
dia. They were here in power 2,000 years ago. When 
they came no one can tell. And as the white man in 
'America has crowded the red Indian almost off the conti- 
nent, so the Hindoo and Mohammedan have driven these 
people into the remote and almost inaccessible forests and 
rugged mountain fastnesses of Central India. The Amer- 
ican Indian is a warrior, but the aborigine of India is the 
opposite. He endures oppression to the last extreme and 
then flees rather than resist or retaliate. Each tribe has 
its own language, but none a written one, till the mission- 
ary reduces it to letters. Our tour was undertaken to look 
up the Koiwar. He occupies the Godavery valley along 
both sides and for a long distance back each way. From 
our home at Yellandu to the river for fifty miles these are 
the inhabitants, for the most part. Eastward for 100 miles 
they live in Bastar. All through the valley the women 
wear a single cloth and nothing upon the upper body. The 
bulk of the men wear the lungoti only, i. e. , a single piece 
of cloth about 9 inches by 3 feet. Nearly everybody is 
bareheaded. Higher up to the east, where they are called 
Hill Kois, the men and women dress almost alike. Both 
sexes wear long hair and but a single cloth, far too scanty 
in dimensions, and all are bareheaded. North of the In- 
dravatti river the Kois are called Marias, and are the near- 



22o OUR WORK. 

est to wild and naked people yet left in all India. Not long 
since these last named wore no cloth, but instead a mat, 
simply made of woven grass. We saw some of these poor 
people and in our hearts we could but ask how much lower 
is it possible for Satan to reduce these people. The home 
of the Maria Koi is high and cold, yet they wear no blank- 
ets, but sleep between large camp fires. On the plateau 
about Jajdalpur the people are better clad and do not seem 
so utterly poor. Many of these people we found getting 
their living largely from the wild fruit of the forest. Many 
depend on the hunt, and the bow and arrow are their 
weapons. They eat ants and in the season no small part 
of the work of the women is to get the ants and prepare 
them. They dig them out of the ground. Some eat liz- 
ards, serpents, and rats. They have no priests, no temples 
and no elaborate system of sacrifice, that requires a doctor 
to explain it. There are no caste barriers among them, 
but all seem on a common level. Polygamy is common 
among them, though not universal. The most common 
way of getting married is that of going through a farcial 
abduction or kidnapping of the girl. They worship the 
gods of the hills, Beema and Arjuna, and Dharma Raj. 
Every conspicuous hill or mountain is sacred, as the home 
of their gods. The small-pox goddess of the Hindoos, 
comes in for a great deal of attention among them. Their 
sacrifices are fowls, pigs, goats, buffaloes and birds. They 
offer ghee, rice, flour, oil, and flowers. Every head of the 
house or person is his own priest. 

We frequently saw them worshipping a tree, or the soil, 
or the river, or the sky. They are, however, really demon 
worshippers, endeavoring to appease evil spirits they 
imagine to be all about them. Yet all have an apprehen- 
sion of the one God, and will invaribly say, God is above, 
if you ask where he is. They fear a coming judgment, 
and long for happiness as we do. They are a strange 
people. We passed through about 150 villages and every- 



OUR WORK. 221 

where they flocked to hear us as well as to see us. Like 
little children they would listen and seemed to us like 
shepherdless sheep, for whom Jesus died. This tour 
marks one of my happiest periods of my then sixteen years 
in India. What more shall I say? There are 600,000 peo- 
ple in the country we have now been over and no mission 
among them except ours. " 

After reaching home I found that it was only too true 
that the Revenue Secretary of the Nizam's Government 
had gone through the perfomance of confiscating our vil- 
lage without any compensation to us. 

I immediately made an appeal, but was told that the 
orders that had been issued were final and that no appeal 
would be entertained. After some consultation I decided 
to stake my claim to justice as a citizen of the United 
States of /: merica, and not as a missionary. I therefor 
made out my claim as best as I could with the help of a 
christian brother, and sent it all to General S. M. Merrill, 
United States Consul General at Calcutta, asking him if 
he could, to send it up to the viceroy of India, with a re- 
quest that the British Resident at Hyderabad be asked to 
investigate the matter and secure me justice. This appeal 
was sent to Calcutta in the latter part of May, 1892. Be- 
fore the end of June the case was in the hands of the resi- 
dent at Hyderabad. The gentleman, who began on me, 
now wanted to settle up with me and get the case out of 
the British residency. Upon the advice of the resident I 
declined all back-door negotiations and referred the matter 
to the resident. I however sent up to General Merrill the 
terms on which I was willing to settle the matter, and these 
terms were communicated to the viceroy and sent on to 
the resident at Hyderabad, to be supplied to the Nizam's 
Government as my reply to secret negotiations. Well, it 
may not be needful for me to say that these were trying 
times. Many eagerly caught up the news and the rumor 
sped as if it had wings, that I had lost all, and here was 



222 OUR WORK. 

another instance in proof that it was not safe for persons 
to give money for missions, except through the old and 
regular missionary society. Some friend reported it to 
America, and the friends who had been helping us there, 
were justly stirred up to hear that all was lost. And for 
some time further help was withheld. On the 14th of 
May I received a cablegram, stopping the payment of a 
draft not yet received from Bro. Grant. I was at Bro. 
Gilder's when I received this cablegram. I opened my 
bible without a word for some light to cheer my heavy 
heart. My eyes fell upon these words in the ninth Psalm 
and the tenth verse: "And they that know thy name will 
put their trust in thee ; for thou hast not forsaken them 
that seek thee." I could read no more, and had Gabriel 
come with a trumpet, the message to my heart would not 
have been more real than the voice of God to me in these 
words. The load was gone and I bowed and praised the 
Lord with a full heart. Months passed by before matters 
were settled, but in the course of time the village was re- 
stored to us, with the unqualified promise, that my claim 
for Rs. 4,253 damages should be looked into. This was 
a great victory. We now had our village, with a title, as- 
sured to us by the Nizam's Government and endorsed by 
the British Government, and on record in the office of the 
U. S. Consul General. The devil overshot his mark again, 
as he has often done in his efforts to drive us out of the 
country and missionary work. 

One other trouble met me on my return from Bastar. 
Mrs. Smootz had no heart for missionary work and soon 
began to make her husband trouble after they reached 
India. He was a noble soul and I had loved him as a brother 
and had expected much of him, believing him to be emin- 
ently fitted for our self-supporting work. But^his wife 
had no heart for the work, and soon after I reached home 
she took him out of the mission and later out of India, and 
the Methodist Church, and unless I mistake, will have one 



OUR WORK. 223 

day to answer to God for spoiling a good missionary and 
doing much to bring reproach upon a good man and chris- 
tian. 

During the first few months after the Bastar tour I wrote 
about twenty-five newspaper articles, which were most of 
them published thus awakening in India, England and 
America a good deal of interest in the Bastar field. On 
the advice of Brother Gladwin, and upon my own judgment 
of what was best for the whole work, I started the " Pau- 
line Mission Message," in September of 1892. I had de- 
cided to call it the P. M. Ensign, and to Brother Maurice 
Gregory of the Bombay Guardian belongs the credit of 
the change to the Message. It has not been published reg- 
ulraly, but has done us good, and is published from time 
to time as we are able to get it up and pay for it. 

My hands were full all the summer months after my re- 
turn from Bastar, and the preachers did splendid service 
in the country all about us. The first orphan house was 
put up and ready for use, the village was much more im- 
proved and more land cleared, and our house was more 
nearly completed and furnished, for we made nearly all 
our own furniture in our own workshop. In September I 
put up a chunam butty, or lime kiln, that we might burn 
all the lime that we might stand in need of, and have to 
sell. Later on we put another by the side of the first, and 
eventually a third, and burned lime for the market with 
coal lying waste about the mines. It has been a profita- 
ble item of business for us in more ways than one. And 
one or all of the kilns has been going all the time now for 
three years. 

In September the Lord took another occasion to show 
us his power and put us under deeper obligations of grat- 
itude. It was on the 5th of September, about 4:30 p. m., 
a man came up from the village to say that a big breach 
was opening in the big tank, and that by 6 p. m. the whole 
tank would be gone. I hastened up stairs, and in a few 



224 OUR WORK. 

words of prayer commended the keeping of the tank to 
God, and then made for the tank on foot. I found that 
at the point where an old breach had once been on the 
back a serious and very considerable landslide of our new 
work had begun. The entire back half of the breach, about 
forty-five feet wide, was slowly in motion. I judged about 
25,000 cubic feet of earth was going at the rate of about 
one foot per hour. The front was still intact. I found that 
all the work people were doing was simply making matters 
worse. They were piling more earth on the moving mass. 
I stopped this and drove a line of long stakes down in front, 
and set all hands to loading the front of the bank that it might 
be better able to resist the water pressure that would soon 
be so heavy upon it as the back of the bund went down. 
Myself and thirty men worked hard till 10 p. m., and until 
that time kept it about three feet above the water. I sent 
the weary men for something to eat and bade them return, 
I could see we had an all night battle before us. I had 
with me two christians and a heathen man. As we watched 
I saw the moving mass take on S£eed, and all seemed gone 
for a moment. I went away alone and prayed. I thought 
of the Lord making the waters of the Red sea stand up 
like a wall, and I asked for some word or token if Israel's 
God were with us. The words "All things are possible 
to him that belie veth," came to me, and I repeated them 
over and over, my faith kindling as I did so. It occurred 
to me that we should go to the far end of the tank and 
breach the tank, and thus reduce the water level, which I 
had not thought of before. This we immediate^ began 
with all the power we had. I mean the four of us. Later 
one of the christians brought me something to eat. I had 
no hunger, as much was at stake. If the tank went at the 
slip we should lose all our water, and several villages be- 
low us would be flooded. I asked the brother to join me 
in prayer. He did, and for a time we seemed to be asking 
the impossible. At midnight we had a breach working 



OUR WORK. 225 

two feet of water ten feet wide, but the amount of earth 
at the slip was not two feet thick, and no man dared any 
more to step upon it. I exhorted the coolies to make still 
another effort to strengthen it, and I sped me to the breach 
to widen it as fast as we could. Thus we toiled, and that 
thin slice of earth stood like a stone wall till it was no 
more than one foot thick, and it did not seem possible that 
it could stand another minute. We widened our breach 
and the water level began to come down a little, but still 
we toiled till dawn came, and then sent for more help. 
Soon fifty fresh men took the places of the thirty who 
worked all night. "All things are possible to him that 
believeth," kept ringing in my ears, as we toiled away. At 
9 a. m. it was very evident that the Lord was going to see 
us through to victory and our tank saved. We worked on 
all day, and before night everything was fairly safe. Oth- 
ers may say what they like, but while I have breath I shall 
praise God for holding millions of cubic feet of water back 
by his own hand till we could get another outlet for it, and 
one at a higher level that would not empty our tank. 

A few days later all the tanks above us breached in a 
time of heavy rain, and all this water coming down upon 
us, gave us another night of prayer and anxiety. I was 
sick and had to leave the work to the christians to attend 
to. They brought me a message of progress every hour 
of the night, and they wrought, widening the breach we 
had before made, till it was eighty feet wide, before the 
rise of the wate^ level could be stopped. As the reports 
came to me hour by hour of higher and higher levels,, it 
seemed to me that the next report must be "all gone.' 
But no, God held the waters in his own fist, till we man- 
aged it, and all was safe. Such manifest interposition of 
providence on our behalf meant more than many thousands 
of gold and silver. Blessed be the name of the Lord for- 
ever and ever. 

The Hyderabad district conference was held at our 



OUR WORK. 227 

place on the 7th to the 10th of October. Owing to Brother 
Gilder's long sickness Brother Ernsberger presided. While 
the conference was in session a letter came from Mr. 
Beers, of Cawnpore, saying that he had Rs. 500 for Siron- 
cha. This was an approval of the proposal to appoint a 
man to Sironcha, at this district conference: He told 
me how the spirit had, in a very remarkable manner, told 
him he should send this sum for this purpose. 

We praised the Lord, and Bishop Ernsberger appointed 
Nursaya to Sironcha, along with Brother Cheddaya. 

Early in November came a letter to say that Dr. Bat- 
stone and wife were in England en route for India. The 
brethren in America had caught on to the Bastar work, and 
here were re-enforcements coming for that work. 

Necessity made it seem expedient for me to borrow some 
money at this timCj which I did of a christian brother, 

In November it was plain to me that an open door was 
before us to do some work in the mines. William Plum- 
ley, a christian brother, came along to assume the respon- 
sibility of carrying out most of the work, and my name 
went in as a partner. The first work undertaken was the 
sinking of two shafts for the mining company. I did 
some little at it, but the bulk of the work was always 
done by Bro. Plumley. 

December 17 Dr. and Mrs. Batstone reached Yellandu 
for Jajdalpur. Christmas and New Years were pleasant 
days with us, and the church enjoyed the blessing of the 
Lord this year. God's blessing was with us, and our chris- 
tian families had increased till our whole christian commu- 
nity had grown to about 120 persons. Beemaya was this 
year added to the number of our preachers. The number 
o* baptisms was more than it had been for several years, 
but yet we saw no break among the heathen, as we had anx- 
iously hoped for many a day. In January of 1893, we 
were adjusting affairs so as to be absent several months 
in Bastar. 



228 OUR WORK. 

Thus ended our thirteenth year as a mission, and one of 
the best of the history, and marked by fiercer trials from 
the devil than we ever had before. Just as God was lead- 
ing us out to greater things, Satan fell upon us with the 
fiercest malice. God led us on all the same, and every on- 
slaught of the adversary was turned to our account decid- 
edly. 

Old South India conference met in Bombay Christmas 
week, and divided into South India, embracing Madras 
Presidency and the Nizam's Dominions and Bombay, in- 
cluding everything in India north of the twentieth paral- 
lel not in any other conference. On December 27th of 
1892, my brethren unanimously voted me back into con- 
ference, after having worked as a local preacher for seven 
years, and having lived down forever the fears some once 
had that I had a comeouter spirit. So far as I know I have 
the good will of all my brethren in the conference, and 
their prayers that I may succeed in pioneering self- 
support mission work without salary or the help of the 
missionary society. 

CHAPTER X 

PREEMPTING OUR MISSION FIELD. 1893-1894. 

I shall briefly in these closing pages narrate how I set- 
tled the first mission aries in Bastar, secured our first land, 
and made our applications for more. Leaving Yellandu 
February ioth Bro. Batstone and myself marched and 
preached our way to the capitol of Bastar in twenty-one 
days. On our way up, we posted Bros. Nursaya and 
Chendaya and their families in Sironcha, nearly midway 
from Yellandu to Jagdalpur. Our trip up was one of 
much encouragement to us, as missionaries. Every 
where the people received us gladly and remembered 
our visit the year before. 

I cannot do better than to enter here what I wrote 
for publication the month following our arrival there. 



OUR WORK. 229 

A MONTH IN THE CAPITOL OF BASTAR. 

Dr. Batstone and myself reached Jagdalpur on the 
3rd of March. The Superintendent, Ram Krishan Rao, 
Esq,, received ns most kindly and made haste to make 
us welcome and help ns to a comfortable camp. 

We found the complexion of the place greatly changed 
since last year, and that for the better. The capitol 
last year was a very unsightly town. The old mud 
wall fort was surrounded by a very deep mote or trench 
which had been used as a public latrine and hiding- 
place for wild animals, and was vile enough to breed 
the death of all the Rajah's people and Government 
officers inside. 

Commissioner Frazer did a favor to the State when 
he ordered the old wall to be filled into the trench. 
Then many of the most unsightly insanitate buildings 
and shops around the Rani's quarters and the few State 
offices wers demolished, and the people whose houses were 
demolished were made to move out into more roomy quar- 
ters to the south. Roads were laid off through the old 
fort and in the plain, south, and Rudrapa Pratab Gunj as a 
bazaar or shop street, and public sanitation was under- 
taken for the first time in history. The first new State 
edifice begun was a public school house. If this is a pro- 
phecy it is a good one. Surely the enlightenment of Bas- 
tar is a certain way to future prosperity. 

After looking about to note the trend of improvements, 
we proceeded to select the site for our mission quarters 
and our village. The Superintendent kindly pointed out 
the most conspicuous and finely located place in all the vi- 
cinity, just to the south of the plain reserved for the ex- 
tension of the rapidly growing town. We finally con- 
cluded his selection for us was the best we could find. 
The whole town front, 1,900 feet by 1,200 feet back, is our 
selected mission building site, both for ourselves and the 
W. F, M. S. 



2 3 o OUR WORK. 

Then on exploration, exactly adjoining- this plot, we 
found a fine waste land area, more or less a jungle, with 
two old tanks, a scarce article in Bastar, one and a-half 
miles west to east, by about one mile north to south. The 
village land measuring nearly 1,300 acres. 

The two plots cost us less than sixty rupees per year, the 
first and second, and for each of the three following a 
little less than ninety rupees. After that a new scale of 
rents will be taken on each plot separately, one-fifth of the 
village land, however, falling to us free of tax as " Sir 
Land." We have much reason to thank God for this lib- 
eral welcome by the State. 

On the 1 6th, Dr. B. left for Yellandu for his wife and 
effects, while I remained for the further adjustment of 
Bastar mission matters with the State, and meanwhile, to 
see a temporary house put up for Dr. and Mrs. B. when 
they arrive in May. 

At first we could find no on to work for us. Some un- 
seen hand seemed to be working against us. For ten days 
not a man would work or accept an advance. Daily we 
prayed the Lord to help us through. At last, on the 27th 
of March, a few horse-keepers ventured to try it, and we 
came out at the end of our second week with nearly 
twenty workpeople, and the way to success open. 

Meanwhile we had a birthday, March, 23d. It was our 
fortieth. We devoted the day mostly to searching the 
Scripture and prayer. "All power is given unto Me," 
Matt, xxxviii, 18, led me to search out all the references 
to that remarkable proof text of the Regency of Christ. 
We found Jesus using it just before He gave the great invita- 
tion, "Come unto Me," in Matt, xi., and again in the begin- 
ning of His great prayer, John xvii., and lastly just prior 
to the great command, ' Go, preach." But we found David, 
Paul, John and Peter all had their attention drawn to 
this remarkable idea in the Messiahship. It was indeed 
good for my faith to fix and feed upon in the face of this 



OUR WORK. 231 

Yellandu-Bastar work. Exiled here, I received no post 
from anyone for sixteen days. 

The doctor had to have our little tent and most of our 
traveling kit to go back with. Brother Gilder's Lobo 
volunteered to go back and cook for him on the way, and 
I kept one of our christian boys, Nursoo, with a kit worth 
nothing — one small cooking vessel, two plates, one cup 
and saucer, one knife and fork, one enamelled cup, my 
steel traveling trunk and hammock-bed, and not an item 
of stores. The Superintendent of the State loaned me a 
sepoy's "pal; " our genial Roman Catholic postmaster, son 
of a Nagpur Methodist, loaned me a box for saman alid 
stores, and a small cooking vessel, and the bazaar gave us 
rice, chillies, salt, onions, brinjals, etc., and soon we were 
comfortable. My horse was tied to a mango tree hard by, 
my hammock was swung to the posts of my "pal," and a 
good bed of paddy straw made me a fine place to sit 
leaning up against the "pal" pole to write, a place for my 
jamkan spread for a dining table, and a place for me to re- 
ceive my guests. I soon employed a horse-keeper and 
chaprassi, and have been happy and busy every day since. 
Here I have daily read my Roman-Urdu testament, and 
prayed with as many as I can get about me. Here on Sun- 
day, March 26th, I first attempted to pray in Hindustani, 
which experiment I continue to make. Here I have writ- 
ten about 150 foolscap pages of MSS., about thirty let- 
ters, and had some of the most blessed seasons of prayer 
I have ever enjoyed. I am joyfully laying foundations in 
Bastar for a future Christian kingdom. 

C. B. Ward. 

Still a month later I wrote: 

1 ' In speaking of our expanded work we find ourselves 
designating it Yellandu-Bastar. In the month past we 
have to report some progress. We have explored north- 
ern Bastar, aud decided upon two mission stations north 
of the Indravatti river. This makes a better distribution 



232 our work; 

of people to each station and will more centrally locate 
the missionary workers. It will give about 100,000 souls 
each to Jagdalpur, Kondagaon and Autagarh. 

We left Jagdalpur on the nth of April with begaries, 
to carry a few necessary things, and reached Jagdalpur 
again on the 25th, having located our station at Kon- 
dagaon, forty- two miles north of the capit 1, and Autagarh 
about 100 miles north. By the generosity of Bastar State, 
we have now secured three admirable and valuable building 
sites of over fifty acres each in the above-named stations, 
and large tracts of village land as well. At Sironcha we 
have secured by the order of the Deputy Commissioner of 
Chanda the best site in the town, being the old parade 
ground, eighteen and a-half acres. 

Initial steps have been taken to secure our sites and vil- 
lages in Koonta and Gungalur, 

Here in Jagdalpur a beginning has been made. A tem- 
porary house is well under way for Dr. Batstone who is 
en route from Yellandu with family and goods to occupy it. 
A well is in progress, something has been done toward 
clearing our building site of brush and scrub, and steps 
taken to repair our tanks. Plans for bungalow, hospital, 
work-shop, etc., are ready, and work will commence on a 
bungalow as soon as possible. 

We have received letters from two persons desirous of 
entering the work here in India, and a lady of the north 
inquires with reference to the support of a worker. A 
brother who has helped our work greatly in the past sends 
Rs. 1,000 via Calcutta. This friend is not a Methodist. 

We have preached in Hindustani here and prayed as well 
with some encouragement. There are even here a few very 
hopeful cases. If the work can be followed up I think we 
shall have a little church in this city soon. 

One young man has cast in his lot with us wholly, though 
I have not baptised him. Of one family I have much hope. 
But the low caste Hindus here are fearfully enslaved to 



OUR WORK. 233 

opium. There is a shop in the town selling- about one lb. 
per day of crude opium, enough, I am told, to kill 500 per- 
sons taken as a poison. This curse will prove a great 
hindrance to work among these poor people. 

Nursaya and Chendaya write of much encouragement 
in their beginning in Sironcha. The workers and helpers 
at Yellandu write of much encouragement there. 

Dr. and Mrs. Batstone reached Jagdalpur on the 24th of 
May, and entered into the humble home I had tried to get 
ready for them. I had been compelled to leave Jagdalpur 
before they arrived, and on the way, by accident we passed 
each other, without meeting. It was a heroic, long jour- 
ney for Sister Batstone, just out from home, and that too 
knowing that she was going where she would have no 
society but that of her husband and the heathen servants 
they might have. Alone among the heathen, 300 miles 
from the nearest Methodist brother missionary. But they 
went, and stuck, under much and deep trial of faith and 
will stick we trust till we shall have an army of the Lord 
with banners in that hilly land. I did a good deal of ex- 
ploring till I reached home on the 5th of June, trying to 
take new routes all the while that I might see more of the 
people and preach more widely. When I had remained at 
Jagdalpur sending Dr. B. back for his family and things, 
giving him all the stores we had between us, I expected to 
see a little of hard times and was prepared to lose a little 
flesh on the hard fare I expected to be on, for a few 
months. After reaching home I weighed and found 
myself heavier by several pounds than when I had begun 
my hard fare. So I thought it was not worth while to say 
anything about my self denial and hardships. I am com- 
ing to think that a good deal of what we now consider 
essential can be dispensed with to our bodily good. I 
have ever been satisfied since those months that I was 
better off without tea and coffee. Sweetened hot water 
will do as well and we would be spared the headaches. 



234 OUR WORK. 

After getting turned around I wrote up Bastar and 
indeed our whole field. I will enter what I had to say of 
it all round, that friends may see what a heritage God has 
given us for the rest of our missionary days. I pray for 
thirty years for this field and hope that God will send my 
children in to carry on the work with and after me. 

OUR MISSION FIELD. 

When in 1886 we went out to the very end of the exten- 
sion of the Nizam's State Railway, 150 miles east of Hy- 
derabad, his Highness' capitol near Singereny, we found 
about us a strange people speaking Telugu with a very 
peculiar accent. They differed much from the Hindoos in 
physical appearance and dress. They were smaller in 
stature for the most part, with rounder faces, and contras- 
ted strikingly with their aryan neighbors in the matter of 
honesty, and in sticking closely to the jungle recesses, in 
the midst of which one by one they actually hewed out 
their humble villages. Who were these people of whom 
we had not so much as heard in our seven years in the 
Dominions? We were told they were Koiwars. Their 
docility, and simplicity of lives, the absence of priests, 
temples, or caste among them, soon attracted our atten- 
tion. But it was not till three years later when we 
settled at Yellandu, that the idea of especially laying 
ourselves out for this people seized us, as we began to 
work out. We found more of these people than of any 
other, and they were more accessible, readier listeners, 
and presented the most hopeful class of people we had 
ever worked among. It did not take us long to learn 
that the sua patria of these Koiwars was beyond the 
Godavery River in the hills and jungles of the state of 
Bastar. 

When they spread out and filtrated themselves through 
the dense jungles of Telingana, of the Nizam's Dominions, 
is by no means certain. They utterly shun the open 



OUR WORK. 235 

country and seem to be most content where their axes can 
find trees, and the women's hands jungle fruit. We have 
we think, compassed the borders of the habitation of this 
most interesting - people. Stretching from about twenty 
miles south of Yellandu, north-east 300 miles on a due line 
by about 100 miles in width, these people are found, in 
number about 400,000. 

But in the Godavery valley and somewhat diffused else- 
where are more than 100,000 low caste Hindoos, whom 
the Brahmin has not thought worth looking after, who 
are more or less assimilated to the Koi, and vastly more 
accessible than the same classes surrounded by the other 
caste fraternities of Hindus. The home of this people is 
our "Mission Field," and these perhaps 550 or 600 thous- 
and souls are the people to whom the Lord hath step by 
step led us. 

Humbly we confess to a commission "in as much as in 
us lies " to evangelize this little Koiwar empire. 

Here we realize we have a life work for a score of mis- 
sionary workers " full of faith and the Holy Ghost." 

We accept the commission at the Master's hand, and 
with all "prayer and supplication" implore such divine 
manifestations of gospel power as shall christianize this 
people ere we go hence. 

This world can offer naught compared to the honor 
Christ has given us in this commission. 

For ourselves and every missionary worker, Indian or 
foreign, who shall labor in this field, we implead the ex- 
perience of PauL " Neither count I my life dear unto 
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the 
ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to tes- 
tify the Gospel of the grace of God." Acts xx. 24. 

The entire field we divide into six circuits, each of which 
must have a capable missionary in charge, either Indian 
or foreign. In each of these circuits there will be three or 
more out appointments for helpers. When every point is 



236 OUR WORK. 

occupied, the working force will far exceed half a hundred 
men and women. 

Who is sufficient for all these things? He who said: 
" Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every 
creature," Mark. xvi. 15, and who "is able to do exceeding 
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to 
the power that norketh in us" Eph. iii. 20. 

THE SIX CIRCUITS. 

I. Yellandu Circuit. — This circuit with its headquar- 
ters at Yellandu, is wholly in the Nizam's Dominions, and 
comprises the jungle region of the once magnificent Telin- 
gana. 

The old Telugu kings of Warungul, at least the later 
ones, were the patrons of industry. Under their hands 
many thousands of splendid tanks and dams over numer- 
ous streams were constructed, and three or four times the 
present population must have found ample comfort. 

But with the advent of the " Crescent," nearly 600 years 
ago, blight settled on much of the once fair kingdom. 

Perhaps millions of the looted people fled south, and the 
villages without inhabitant, the tanks without guardians, 
soon fell into decay and half of the old kingdom became 
a dense forest, covering and often hiding the remains of 
what once was. 

It may not be amiss if we surmise somewhat of the ad- 
vent of the Koiwar into Telingana. 

When Warungul fell, there was a Panjab prince at the 
court of the Telugu king, who had lost his all in the north. 
This Kshatriya prince with numerous followers and allies 
fled eastward beyond the Godavery. The successful foot- 
ing of the Mohammedan at Warungul debarred any return. 
This prince with his allies set about making himself king 
over the aborgines, and the Bastar kingdom is the result. 
But these sturdy hill people did not quietly submit. We 
opine that in those days, perhaps some of these Kois fled 
from their own home into the deserted Telingana. Here 



OUR WORK. 237 

in a space of about forty by eighty miles are found now- 
more than 60,000 of them, and perhaps 20,000 Hindus in- 
termixed. 

The country is wild, without made roads, most of it 
1,000 feet above the sea, healthy except in the months of 
October, November and December, after the rains, when 
fevers are prevalent. But wise precautions leave little to 
be feared from this source. 

Here we have had four preachers at work many days 
and there are abundant signs of a coming harvest. 

At Yellandu we have a day school for christian children, 
but this must be made a training school and enlarged. 

Here are "ocated our christian village, Mission head- 
quarters, workshop, school, orphanage, etc. 

II. Sironcha Circuit. — Headquarters Sironcha, a town 
of 3,000 on the east bank of the Godavery 120 miles north 
of Yellandu. This Circuit about sixty by forty miles in 
extent, lies up and down the Godavery valley, is rather 
densely populated, and has about 80,000 souls; low caste 
Hindus more than 50,000, and the remainder Kois. 

This is an exceedingly good field, and we have for three 
years been preaching to many of these people at Yellandu 
where they go in numbers to work in the coal mines. On 
the invitation of some of these people we have occupied 
Sironcha with two of our best local preachers this year. 
This field is hot a portion of the year, being on an average 
but 400 feet above the sea. On the British side of the 
river roads are made, on the Nizam's side none. Travel 
will be difficult in the rainy season. 

Within fifteen miles of Sironcha are 10,000 low caste 
Hindus, of three most accessible castes, and for them spe- 
cial effort is bvdng made with much promise. Here, too, 
we must have a training school. For after all our workers 
are yet among the people. We must hunt them up, gar- 
nish and arm them. To an Indian business man fell the 
honor of giving tlm first 500 rupees for the Sironcha cir- 
cuit. 



238 OUR WORK. 

III. Gungalur Circuit Gungalur, is a small town fifty 
miles in from the western border of Bastar state, situated 
upon a beautiful plain i,ooc feet above the sea. Here we 
have an area of about sixty miles west to east, and fifty the 
other way, with 50,009 population almost wholly Koi and 
very widely distributed in small villages. We may call this a 
forest region, with good water, splendid soil, on the whole 
healthy. Half the circuit is below the plain by more than 
500 feet. Roads are good, fair weather only. Gungolar is 
to be the headquarters of the western Tahsil of Bastar. 
But in the circuit fall three zemindaries subject to Bastar, 
with fully half the population of the circuit. 

This field, as yet wholly unoccupied, is a splendid one, 
and must have a medical missionary, hospital, village, etc. 

The authorities have bidden us select our site, and this 
we have done. 

The only Hindus in this field are but little separated 
from the Koi people. 

IV. Kunta Circuit. This circuit includes the southern 
Tahsil of Bastar, and also two large zemindaries, is about 
fifty miles square, and has a population of about 40,000. 
Koonta is the headquarters of the Tahsil, and is on the 
banks of the Severi river, 250 feet above the sea — the low- 
est station in our field. Wholly a forest region, scarcely 
any but Kois are found. After the rains fevers prevail. 
Bastar state provides good fair-weather roads. The great 
source of income in this and Gungalur district is the sale of 
timber. 

Koonta is the southern port of entry by water. Timber 
in rafts goes from this point to Rahjamundry, and river 
boats reach here with goods and salt from the sea. 

The population is very sparce, but most needy and 
promising. Kunta calls for a medical missionary, hos- 
pital school and village. 

Probably the headquarters of our mission in this circuit 
will be Mokpal, a place about 1,500 feet above the sea, 



OUR WORK. 239 

where the church mission had property, which they have 
handed over to us. 

V. Jagdalpur Circuit. Jagdalpur is the capitol of Bas- 
tar, a town of 7,000 population, mostly Hindu, though all 
the surrounding population is aborigine. 

This circuit extends about sixty by fifty miles, with a pop- 
ulation of 160,000, almost wholly aborigine. Nearly 2,000 
feet above the sea, the entire circuit is a beautiful healthy 
plateau, thickly peopled, yet more or less forest. Vast 
resources of sal and teak timber are found here, for which 
there is no way down to the great river of the west, or the 
smaller one on the south. 

We have just occupied this important point, Dr. W. H. 
L. Batstone and wife being the first missionaries. The 
state has given us, on splendid terms, 1,300 acres of land 
adjacent to the town, on the north border on which we 
shall soon have hospital, dispensary, bungalow, workshop 
and school. The climate is the most delightful I have seen 
in India. Now in the end of March the thermometer 
ranges from sixty to eighty-five degrees. 

The whole state has come under British administration 
for perhaps fifteen years to come. The late Rajah, By- 
ram Deo, died in 1891, and left a little son who is now 
eight years of age. This little king is a descendant of the 
Kshatriya prince who fled from Warungul over five hun- 
dred years ago. His name is Rudrapa Pratab Deo. 

The deceased Rajah was never willing missionaries should 
enter his state and until Commissioner Frazer last year 
gave us official permission to enter, the door of Bastar was 
shut against the gospel. 

We find in Jagdalpur itself about 3,000 people, old and 
young, of Mahar (or Mallah), Gaoli (or shepherd), Chucker 
and sweeper castes. The first, 350 houses, the second 
200 houses, the third twenty houses, and the last ten. How 
these people came here no one can tell. They seem either 
to have followed or gathered round the Bastar Rajah, and 



2 4 o OUR WORK. 

here they are. Brahmins seem never to have been favored 
much by the Rajahs of Bastar, and few traces of their work 
are. here seen. The Rajah encouraged pooja?-is of their 
own caste; Thus these forsaken Hindus have forgotten 
their own language and history, and are not far removed 
from the aborigine, except that they seem lower down in 
the scale of excellence. Here lies our first ready-to-hand 
work in Jagdalpur. 

All the other circuits have been wholly Telugu. Here 
in Jagdalpur a very low Hindu prevails, or rather a mix- 
ture of Hindi, Hindustani and Marathi. What we shall do 
in the matter of the aborigine language does not yet ap- 
pear. A wonderful field is before us. Two ladies of the 
W. F. M. S. and about twelve Indian assistants will fill 
this field. 

VI. Kondagoon Circuit. This circuit lies north of Jag- 
dalpur and the town of Kondagoon is but forty-two miles 
away from the capitol. It is beautifully located and is the 
center of about 40,000 souls. It is higher than Jagdalpur 
by about 200 feet and is healthy. There is here a small 
sprinkling of low caste Hindus and all the rest are abor- 
igine. A great many Marias will be found in this field. 
We have applied for a large tract of land here and a build- 
ing site of fifty acres. The station must have a doctor, a 
hospital, school and mission house. 

VIII. Antagarh Circuit. — This takes in northern Bastar, 
and it is near the small State of Kanker; this may be 
counted in and will make a field of more than 80,000 souls 
in a territory of eighty miles by forty. Here are the 
wildest, nakedest people said to be found in all India 
to-day. It is said but a few years since the Mariah of this 
region wore no cloth. If anything was worn (as often it 
was not) it was simply a broad leaf or a little woven grass. 
Even now they are almost naked, living much on wild 
fruit and game, using no oxen or plow, but cultivating a 
little by hand. This circuit calls more loudly for christian 



OUR WORK. 241 

pity than any locality I know of in all India. Hindus are 
scarcely found in all this region. It is a purely aborigine 
population. Two missionaries are required and one must 
be an M. D. Antagarh, should have a hospital, bungalow, 
school and village. 

SUMMARY. 

All these circuit headquarters lay along an irregular 
public line, except Kunta. From Yellandu to Sironcha is 
about 120 miles. Thence to Gungalur east ninety miles, 
on to Jagdalpur about ninety miles, thence north to 
Kondagaon forty-two miles ; and thence to Antagarh sixty 
miles more. Kunta lies south and east of Gungalur 100 
miles, and south and west of Jagdalpur 120. One tour 
around this field will require 1,000 miles of travel. The 
work is a tremendous one. Its call for workers and money 
is great, and yet we stagger not at the promise of God 
through unbelief. We solicit the prayers of God's people 
everywhere, for ourselves, bodies and spirits, and the im- 
mediate wants of this half million souls. 

MORE INFORMATION. 

In all this Yellandu Bastar field, save Yellandu and Jag- 
dalpur, there are no towns of over 5,000 inhabitants. 
Only three other towns exceed 3,000. There are nowhere 
any manufacturing interests, except the abominable liquor 
business, which is vigorously carried on in the Godavery 
valley. The coal mines at Yellandu represent a great in- 
dustry, and perhaps we shall have a town of 20,000 here 
in a few years. The forests of the Nizam and those of the 
Bastar state provide a large trade in timber, which gives the 
Kois plenty of work Avith their axes during the dry season. 
Agriculture and stock-raising are the occupation of the 
people of this great field. 

The Nizam's Dominions has now its railway, and the 
produce of the soil commands a higher value. Bastar, 
though unsurpassed as a rice and sugar cane soil, has little 



24.2 OUR WORK. 

market, owing to the titter want of roads up and down the 
hills. Some day a railroad will make these weary toilers 
a market for their produce. But why all this? Well, a 
great deal. It indicates something of the line of work we 
have before us. 

Our work must be itinerant, almost exclusively. Med- 
ical work will localize itself somewhat in hospitals, but 
even this must be itinerant more or less. The exceeding 
sparsity of the population, for the most part of no more 
than an average of twenty-five to a square mile, leaves us 
no large centers for work. Everywhere the population is 
scattered in villages of fifty to three hundred souls. There 
are between six and seven thousand villages in the whole 
field. Perhaps more. We may estimate at least eight 
miles of travel to each village once, or say 50,000 to go 
all around once, And what are these people, that we 
must reach at so great trouble? Well, they are the simplest- 
minded people you ever saw. They will do anything for 
you when they know that you have come to do them good. 
They will receive you as the angels of God, collect in their 
largest houses or under their village tree, or in the open air, 
of an evening to hear you tell the story of Christ and his sal- 
vation. They will beg you to stay and make them know 
it better. They will bring you out their sick and afflicted 
and ask you what you can do for them. They are like 
those Jesus had compassion upon, because they were faint, 
having no shepherd, Matt, ix, 36. 

But are there no obstacles? Yes, most formidable ones. 
First in ourselves, the greatest. We like comfortable work 
in a station, life in society, and the comforts of a good 
home, good food, good bed, and the constant association 
of wife and children, or friends or all. Here, like Asbury 
and good John Wesley, we must live on little and enjoy it, 
be much of the time on pony, foot, or cart, and be content. 



OUR WORK. 243 

ALL ABOUT OUR MISSION FIELD. 

THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY. 

i. India has to-day the remnants of many pre- Aryan 
races. Sir. William Hunter reckons these relics at fifty 
millions in the empire. There is no written history or mon- 
uments from which to gather the dates of their entry into 
Hindustan. But the aborigines of India are no doubt de- 
scendants of some of the companies that moved eastward 
after the "confusion" of tongues at Babel. The bulk of 
them came in by the northwest passes and some evidently 
at a later date, came in by the north door, and were per 
haps a part of those who first settled China. 

The aborigine population of the central Provinces is given 
in the census of 1890 at about two and a half millions. 
Entrenched upon, on every side, they have retreated 
before armies of Hindu aggression to the hill bound 
recesses, and here they form the bulk of the people. They 
are divided into about thirty tribes, great and small, each 
with a language of its own, unwritten, customs that differ- 
entiate them, and religious ceremonies and ideas more or 
less alike. Their history is gathered from sundry sources. 
There is abundant evidence that the aborigine kingdoms 
were here in power before the beginning of the christian 
era. The heroes of conquest have ransacked well nigh 
every nook and corner of the empire over and over again. 
But the roadless hills and impenetrable forests of Gond- 
wana were no inviting bait for greedy kings of freebooters. 
Less disturbed, less mingled, less removed from their 
ancient estate, are the aborigines of this part of the Indian 
Empire, than any other large body to be found in the ori- 
ent. The Brahmin has made no religious inroads on this 
people. Here they are with an autonomy of their own, of 
which they are as proud and jealous as the Brahmin him- 
self. Indeed many of them regard the Hindu as an in- 
ruder, and despise him as their inferior. Among these 



244 OUR WORK. 

thirty tribes, the Koiwar, Gotta, Koi, Muria, Maria race is 
perhaps the largest. It numbers about 400,000. Bastar 
is preeminently its home. But they are spread out into 
Jeypur on the south and the Ahiri Zemindary and the 
Nizam's Dominions on the west. About 500 years ago an 
ex-Panjaub Prince, a refugee from Warungal, escaping the 
hands of the minions of the Mogul, foisted his dynasty 
successfully upon this people, and that same dynasty is 
represented to-day at Jagdalpur by the little prince Rud- 
rapa Pratab Deo. 

Much less is known of the earlier history of this people 
than of many other aborigine races. 

That any kingdom of any consequence ever existed 
among them is very doubtful. No remains of cities, no 
monuments to declare any development of art, or any 
other significent traces of any past greatness can anywhere 
be found. 

The conclusion is that they were, previous to the estab- 
lishment of the Bastar kingdom, a pastoral and agricul- 
tural people, content with little, and governing themselves 
in a quiet way under petty chiefs or head-men. 

Everywhere below the plateau on the south and west 
they are called Koiwars. In among the more inaccessible 
hills is a section called Gotta Koi. The word Gotta mean- 
ing hill. 

On the Jagdalpur plateau they have been given a Hin- 
dustani name, Muria, by whom, or when, cannot now be 
ascertained. North of the Indravatti River, which runs 
across the State nearly on the 19th parallel, they are called 
Maria. But there can be little doubt when we examine 
their original language, the slight difference in their cus- 
toms and religious ideas that they are one. 

The various sections are so geographically separated 
naturally as to preclude any great amount of intercourse 
once a residence is selected. And the variations they 
make in the one language that they use, is not so much as 



OUR WORK. 245 

is found in the English of different shires in England. 

The entire Koi section nse Telugu, and it is a question 
whether this will not in time supplant the aboriginal 
tongue in those parts. 

Every foot of Godavery valley seems once to have been 
made sacred by some incident in the flight of Rama and 
his recaptured wife. 

Scores of traditions are extant, and many traditional 
spots are pointed out along up the valley. But except by 
pilgrims at Budrachellam no place is now much esteemed 
by caste Hindus. The population of the valley is essen- 
tially low caste Hindu, and the the Koi is close by on both 
sides. 

Our conclusion is that the Koi came into the Nizam's 
Dominions 100 years or so after the Telugu kingdom fell 
into the hands of the Mohammedan. 

Low caste Hindus in the Godavery valley and elsewhere 
make up one-fourth of the population of our " Field." 

The other three sections of the race use the aboriginal 
language only. This language is known to the Koi below 
the plateau and used somewhat among them, though 
much less than they use Telugu. 

About Jagdalpur, the capitol of Bastar, are other petty 
tribes using a mongrel Hindustani-Hindi-Marathi, and 
the fact of a Hindustani speaking ruler with thousands of 
followers has induced the use of much of this mongrel lan- 
guage by the Muria and Maria seccions of this race. 

The Halba tribe is somewhat represented in Bastar, 
likewise the Gudba. 

We found two villages of the followers of Kabir Pant, 
the first of this class we have ever met. They are weav- 
ers by trade. There are other villages of these people we 
hear, but how many we cannot find out. But beyond 
question the people of our ™ Field" are ancient and inter- 
esting. 



246 OUR WORK. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

II. We have hill and valley in profusion. The Godavery 
river drains all the field except a small part drained by the 
Krishna at the ■ Yellandu end. Many natives call the 
Godavery "Gunga." Its real meaning is, Goda, cow; eru, 
river. Receding from the Godavery, east aud west the 
country gradually rises, though ever and anon rugged hills 
jut up. In the west we have the great coal bed valley of 
the Nizam's Dominions. Fifty miles east we burst up 
against the abrupt ledge of the Jagdalpur plateau where 
we have nearly 1,500 feet ascent in one to three miles. 

Between the Indravatti, after its bend southward toward 
the Godavery, and the Baila Dila mountains, the western 
verge of the plateau, lies the Vijyapur plain, about half 
the elevation of Bastar's great plateau, which maintains 
an elevation of nearly 2,000 feet above the sea, over 8,000 
square miles. The Vijyapur plain is about 1 , 000 square 
miles in extent and is a fine region. 

North of the Indravatti, the country is exceedingly hilly, 
and the lofty hills are intersperced with narrow,, fertile 
valleys. But this whole region is wild, woody, weird, 
beautiful and terrible. The valleys come down to 1,000 
feet while the hills rise to 3,000 feet high. 

Bastar has one great river, the Indravatti, and three- 
fourths the state is drained by it and its many tributaries. 
The southern border has one river the Severi, and there 
are a few small ones in the west-central, all flowing toward 
the Godavery. But coming as they do from off the plat- 
eau or from among the hills these fine rivers are all more 
or less full of barriers rendering them useless as means of 
commercial communication. 

The Indravatti falls 1,000 feet in 100 miles and has one 
magnificent waterfall at Chiterkot, where the water has a 
perpendicular drop of 100 feet. 

In the Nizam's Dominions are many rivers making God- 
avery-ward, but the Kinnarsani is the only large one. 



OUR WORK. 247 

All the western tributaries are torrents in the rainy sea- 
son and dry beds of sand in the hot. Many of the Bastar 
rivers do not dry up at any time. Beautiful springs, wa- 
terfalls and green forest verdue please the traveller's eye. 

The Godavery valley is low. We have about 150 miles 
of this river and its principal feeder, the Pranhita, rising 
from a height of only 200 feet above the sea in the south 
to 500 on the north. 

Our whole field is essentially a forest region. The 
Nizam's wealth in forest is well nigh gone, but is more 
than made up in the coal discovered over a large area. 

Bastar has no coal, but immense wealth in forest only 
waiting the road-maker to let it out westward to the water- 
way to the sea, the Godavery. 

CLIMATE, SOIL, WATER, ETC. 

III. Years ago we often heard the statement made that 
Telingana went into ruin owing to the unhealthiness of 
the locality. But history leaves no chance for such an opin- 
ion, at one end, and the comparative healthiness of anv 
locality therein in our day when proper precautions are 
taken, none at the other. 

Yellandu, a mining town of now nearly 10,000 people, is 
in the midst of a jungle, grown up on former civilization. 
Since good water was provided, sanitation attended to, 
the health register has been exceedingly good. Supply 
these conditions and the same result will follow else- 
where. 

Dense forests and on the whole a higher elevation east 
of the Godavery gives a cooler climate and a much 
heavier rainfall. 

West of the Godavery the average annual rainfall is 
about twenty-five inches, on the east about fifty inches. 
Yet in the west an enterprising Telugu people built 
thousands of tanks, dammed most of the streams to store 
all possible, of the scanty rain fall. On the east with a heavy 



248 OUR WORK. 

rainfall and better opportunities for storing arrangements, 
the easy-going aborgines built no tanks, constructed no 
dams, and has contented himself with a little dry culti- 
vation. 

We heard dismal stories from persons who had never 
seen it, concerning Bastar. But after having seen for 
ourselves and inquired extensively we can but say the con- 
ditions of health in Bastar, naturally far excel those in the 
Nizam's Dominions. 

Delicious running or spring water abounds in a state of 
nature that no artificial arrangements can so adequately 
provide in the Dominions. 

Of temperatures we may give at least three, (i) In the 
Dominions from 40 in the cold, to 1 1 2 in the hot season 
represents the extremes. (2) In the Godavery valley 
from 50 to 1 1 5 . (3) In Bastar from 32 to 101 . These 
are the greatest extremes we can hear of. Certainly the 
hot season in Bastar is short and mild, to us personally de- 
lightful. Everywhere precaution should be taken to get 
good water ; in the Godavery valley be careful of tempting 
the sun, and in Bastar of despising the cold. The natives 
suffer much from improper housing and clothing, though 
they make much use of camp fires. 

Malaria must everywhere in India be guarded against 
more or less, and certainly in every part of our field after 
the rains, October to December. More people die of 
fevers and smallpox than any other two causes. 

The reason is patent. There is almost no medical re- 
lief, and in the case of smallpox, religious superstition 
leads many to think the disease a mark of favor shown 
them by the goddess who presides over this disease, and 
little or nothing should be done to interfere with the nat- 
ural course of the ailment which is usually deeply aggri- 
vated by neglect in smallest matters. 

Cholera is not a stranger, but seldom starts except upon 
the occasion of some pilgrimage when insanitation soon 



OUR WORK. 249 

breeds the plague. So-called sacred shrines seem to 
emit cholera when large numbers of devotees assemble. 
In this respect we are favored, having comparatively few 
jatras in our territory. The Koi is not much of a pilgrim. 
The Hindu does most of this work. 

Geologically the western part of our field seems to have 
been much handled by nature. The Godavery valley and 
the country for sixty miles west upon a time subsided and 
became an inland sea when the coal beds that extend for 
hundreds of miles northward were formed. Then there 
came a series of upheavels and subsidences, and the form- 
ations of many layers of coal till at last one upheavel gave 
the present surface of the country, with a backbone more 
or less tortuous, that leaves the coal strata in the Nizam's 
Dominions dipping strongly to the south. If the denuda- 
tion theory be correct, Bastar escaped and corresponds to 
the western Ghauts on the other side of India. Many 
miles of the Godavery valley is all alluvial soil ; farther 
west sandy and black (not cotton) soil prevail, while Bastar 
is for the most part a fertile light clay, very productive 
when watered. The luxurient forests of sal, teak, muddy 
and eppa attest the general value of the soil. Corn, wheat, 
jowari, rice, cane, oilseeds, cotton and all sorts of garden 
plants and vegetables do well wherever the proper care is 
taken of the soil and the growing plant. Water is the 
essential. The rainfall is good and water hus but to be 
stored and then wisely used. Both in climate and soil we 
are well favored. 

THE GOVERNMENT. 

IV. We come under three. West of the Godavery the 
Nizam, Her Gracious Majesty's " faithful ally," is king. 
The history of the Nizam's state has many dark pages. 
The days of the greatest prosperity ever seen by this coun- 
try were before the first Nizam was born. It is our opin- 
ion that once, twentv-five or thirtv millions lived where 



2 5 o OUR WORK. 

now the Nizam rules over eleven. The ruler is a Moham- 
medan but the populace is Hindu or aborigine. There 
has been a steady advance in the direction of good govern- 
ment for the last forty years. Days of oppression are 
well nigh passed, and we can confidently expect protection 
and the privileges of good government at the hands of the 
Nizam. 

East of the Godavery we have the administration of the 
British along the banks of the river and then the British 
administration of feudatory territory in Bastar during the 
minority of the young Rajah. Here things are in the most 
antiquated condition imaginable. The people existed for 
the Rajah. He did nothing for them. When the British 
Government appointed a superintendent for Bastar in 1892, 
education, justice, police law and protection, public works 
and orderly revenue system had almost literally to be 
begun de novo. There were no roads for the convenience 
of the people, no public buildings of any value for the use 
of the state. The king himself had been happy in a grass 
hut. It was a splendid country with a wretchedly inade- 
quate and effeminate government. Under a beneficent 
administration for the next twenty years there will be 
great prosperity. Until' 1892 the state was not open to the 
missionary. Some years back the German Lutherans 
made an unsuccessful effort to get in. Now we are liber- 
ally welcomed and our assistance in the general uplift of 
the people is confidently expected. To this honorable 
work God has given us a call. 

SOCIAL CONDITIONS, CUSTOMS AND RELIGION. 

Measured by any standard- of actual possessions this abo- 
rigine and intermixed Hindu population is poor indeed. 
But estimate their condition by the degree to which their 
actual wants are met, their general contentment and hap- 
piness, and we conclude they are as well off as their fel- 
lows who possess more. Everywhere the aborigine of 
this field out does his Hindu neighbor in building a roomy 



OUR WORK- 251 

and comfortable house. It has often been a wonder to me 
that all the laboring classes among the Hindus build so 
poorly, and one is not less surprised to see the compara- 
tively superior houses, the Koi takes pains to build. An 
adult can scarcely stand in a poor Hindus one to three 
rupee house. But he can always do so comfortably in a 
Koiwar's. But this house is about all. Seldom do brass 
vessels appear in the hands of the Kois. The most com- 
mon earthen ware, cheap, easily broken and quickly 
replaced by the potter, do them. Better utensils are seen 
among the Hindus even though they are poor. Here and 
there are flocks, a few fowls, perhaps a few goats, a dog, 
a genuine ''scalawag" pig or so. In the west they dress 
better than in Bastar. 

Our hearts have been touched with pity many a time as 
men, women and children have come out to hear us preach, 
sing and pray. It is noticeable that the natural modesty 
of mankind is not wholly lost even among the most barbar- 
ous tribes, or under the vilest of heathen systems. ' ' Na- 
tural" we call it, but we do not regard it as inherent in 
fallen humanity, but rather from the ' ' light which lighten- 
eth every man that cometh into the world," the "consci- 
ence witnessing them" (Romans ii, 15, margin). The 
modesty of these poor women is not yet buried by their 
low estate in heathenism. Surely our Savior and theirs 
waits in "the travail of His soul" (Isa. liii. 11,) for His 
Spirit-anointed daughters to come and tell these, their de- 
graded and oppressed sisters, that their bodies are created 
to be temples of the Holy Ghost. 

Head covering is used by neither men nor women as a 
rule in Bastar. West of the Godavery the Koi dresses more 
like the Hindus in the valley, yet the villagers use little 
cloth. 

The Maria of northern Bastar formerly used no cloth, 
and still many among the hills use only a green leaf or 
small grass mat suspended from the waist in front. 



252 OUR WORK. 

We first thought such nudity would prove the depravity 
of the people. But to our surprise we do not find ony more 
immorality among the aborigine than the Hindu. Chil- 
dren up to eight or ten years are usually utterly naked. 

Among the Hindus the marriage relation is very lightly 
esteemed. Keeping women is exceedingly common. In- 
terchange on the part of both men and women frequently 
occurs. The Koi may polygamize, but generally he has 
but one wife. 

Notwithstanding the apparent poverty of the people 
they seem remarkable happy. Almost every night you 
hear the village song and the tom-tom. This is to amuse 
themselves and frighten away the wild beasts that are 
about them and the plague of their stock pens. 

Whatever else the people have or have not, they get and 
use tobacco. They grow it and its use by both sexes is 
everywhere seen. Even little children indulge in the 
poison. 

Drinking under the British " out- still system " is fear- 
fully prevalent along the Godavery and drunkeness is 
spreading greatly in that vicinity ; up to a recent date the 
people of Bastar have been comparatively free from this 
vice. But the British excise system is set up, and the 
mohwa tree, the flower of which yields liquor, abounds. 

Formerly in Bastar no labor was ever paid for, no mat- 
ter what the service, or how great; it was the duty they 
owed the king for condescending to rule over them. Five 
years ago there was practically no money among the peo- 
ple except cowries (shells). It was " barter" all. around. 
Buying and selling was all in kind. Last year even, we 
found our guides very loth to take pice, asking the rather 
for salt. The Bastar Raj never had a coinage, and now 
British money is used. Formerly all State taxes were paid 
in grain and live stock. Even now this is partly the case. 
It will be some time before there will be money enough in 
circulation to permit of its being otherwise. Being with- 



OUR WORK. 253 

out any large towns and markets, a system of weekly 
bazaars in different localities on different days affords a 
place for buyer and seller to meet. And still little money 
is used. 

Five thousand people meet in Jagdalpur every Sunday 
market day. These weekly bazaars afford a fine oppor- 
tunity for evangelizing. 

Much of the gram carrying is done on the heads of wo- 
men, or by kavardi on men's shoulders. The kavardi is 
really a spring stick resting on the shoulders in the middle 
with a load suspended from each end. Immense burdens 
are thus borne and are easily shifted over the back of the 
neck from one shoulder to the other. 

The aborgine wears plenty of jewelry. Men put on 
most of it. We frequently see from ten to 100 different 
articles of ornament and the whole worth perhaps Rs. 2. 
Naked they may be, but they must have jewelry. We 
have seen thirty-eight rings in a man's two ears on a feast 
day. 

It is remarkable to know the extent these people every- 
where, from Yellandu to Jagdalpur, live on jungle fruit, 
tubers and flowers. Ey eating it in various ways they 
make good use of the Mohwa flower. But many also eat 
rats, lizards, snakes, swine and ants. With the bow and 
arrow they bring m much game for their humble larder. 

Marriage customs are simple ; choices are made some- 
times by parents, oftener by the persons concerned. 
Sometimes the wife is bought. But the initials all settled, 
a village feast finishes the ceremony. A Bastar villager 
spends about Rs. five to seven, in getting married. At 
these feasts one item of expense is for liquor made of rice, 
called Landa, and though intoxicating, is freely partaken 
of by men, women and children. The curious custom of 
practically kidnapping a wife where one is wanted, exists 
both in Bastar and in the Nizam's Dominions. 

Under British administration the sale - of opium and 



254 OUR WORK. 

ganja is being spread among these hill people where a few- 
years ago it was unknown. We can but call it a shame to 
England's fair name. The evil exists in the Nizam's Do- 
minions but is not pushed with such vigor as in British 
territory. The great respect shown woman among the 
aborgines is in striking contrast with her standing among 
the Hindus. She is reckoned fairly man's equal. This 
greatly simplifies missionary work among them. Our 
preachers can at the same time reach both men and wo- 
men. At Yellandu three-fifths of all who hear our preach- 
ers are women. There is much more domestic happiness 
among these people than among the Hindus. In hun- 
dreds of villages we have heard but little quarreling. No 
one can stop over night in a Hindu village without hearing 
male and female brawling, and often liquor has a hand 
in it. 

In the matter of religion we meet with the greatest dif- 
ference. The Hindu has his pantheon whether the priest 
is on hand or not. The village jangam is ever ready to 
offer his services and his services are generally utalized in 
the absence of the priest, and he becomes at once priest 
and magic man and drives a good trade, preying upon the 
superstitious fears of the people. However, orthodox 
Hinduism goes to the dogs, under his rule, yet his power is 
very great and the people fear him exceedingly. Caste 
will be in a way kept up, but it is becoming more and more 
an inextricable maze among the low castes, and will be 
easily broken down under the preaching of the gospel. 
Poor as these Hindus are, they have their temples and sup- 
port them well. 

The Koi nowhere builds a temple. The words of the 
poet concerning the Red Indian oft comes to mind with 
reference to this people. 

"Lo the poor Indian whose untutored mind 

Sees God in the clouds and hears him in the winds." 



OUR WORK. 255 

These people revere gods they think dwell in the hills. 
One is sometimes astonished at the yarns they relate about 
their gods and their sacred hills. A roaring cataract, a 
waterfall, a dismal wind in some lone cavern, becomes an 
astonishing wonder, the concomitant of the presence jf 
their gods. They have no idols, but they will put up a 
wooden pin taken from the ox yoke, or a small plug of iron 
and do puja around it, usually sacrificing fowls or sheep 
and goats for one occasion only, after which that place 
and implements are no more to them than any other. Sac- 
rifice is common and anybody does it. Buffaloes, sheep, 
goats, fowls, pigs, are the common animals sacrificed. 
They offer rice, ghee, milk, flour, incense, oil, cocoanuts, 
flowers, fruit and numerous other things. They sacrifice 
and offer to the ground that gives them grain, the tree 
that yields fruit or toddy, the raingiving sky and the fish 
yielding river. In like manner do they, to appease the 
demons when sickness comes, or to keep it off if they think 
it is coming. Yet all say God is above. When asked why 
he does not worship him only, he frankly says he does ex- 
actly as he has been taught. Then tell him how God, he 
has wandered from and almost forgotten the name of, 
wants to make himself known once more to him, and bless 
him, and his waste country, and that he has sent Jesus 
Christ into the world to reveal the Father in his con- 
sciousness, and forgive him all his sins and change 
and purify his heart, and he often puts his hands 
together and pleads that we stay and teach him these 
things more perfectly, as without some one to lead him he 
wont be able to give up their expensive and worse than 
useless mummery and idolitrous folly. 

Oh that christian friends could hear and see these simple 
minded poor as w T e have many times. 

About Jagdalpur the old Rajah did all he could to es- 
tablish his kind of religion, and under his patronage human 
sacrifices were offered for generations at the shrine of 



256 OUR WORK. 

Danteshwari at Dantawarra in the central part of the 
state. He built hundreds of crude temples and supported 
them. But the villager worships the gods of the hills all 
the same, and where the Rajah's temples are, they join in 
the great holi and Dasara ta mashas. 

Everywhere the magic-man is dreaded, and he takes 
good care to fleece the people well for his own profit. 
Jagdalpur is full of temples and literally somebody has 
made " priests of the common people" here. 

Such is the country, the people, their history, their 
customs, condition, and religion told but in part 

But with the all-constraining love that burned in the 
hearts of early Methodist pioneers, we shall tread these 
village footpaths and trails through the densest forests, 
fearing no wild beasts though they abound, shrinking not 
at turbulent rivers, nor hesitating in the face of any of the 
great and terrible mountains, till we have found out all 
those dear people and given them the message Jesus has 
entrusted us with for them. Before us is weariness, fever, 
pain, trials, and disappointments and untellable hardships, 
still Jesus says, "Go." 

We shall hear these hills and valleys echo and re-echo 
with the Redeemer's praise. 

Oh, for the pioneers who are ready for 2 Cor. 26-27, an( l 
the conquest of this people for Christ. It is all here and 
more, and an eternal weight of glory at the end. 

This people for Christ in ten years should be our aim 
and effort. Amen. 

I have entered so much of our field once for all that it 
may be seen what sort of country and the kind of people 
we have to evangelize. 

This was the year of great trial in America among busi- 
ness men. Our friends who had sent Dr. Batstone and 
wife and had expected to send help regularly till our prop- 
erty was all fitted up into working and productive shape, 
were so straightened that for the last few months of 1893 



OUR WORK. 257 

they were unable to send us a single rupee. I need not 
say this involved us in severe trial. I tried to make ends 
meet as best I could but in spite of borrowing and econo- 
mizing we were all sorely tried. It called us to much 
prayer but I could not feel that it was right for us to with- 
draw a single worker, or cancel any plans for the prosecu- 
tion of the work among these people to whom God had 
sent us. 

I made an attempt to do some work that looked as if it 
would make us something, but after months we had to 
drop it as an unfruitful enterprise. The trial came heavily 
on our dear workers in their far away home in Jagdalpur. 
God had, mean while, given them a little missionary 
daughter. Thus matters went on getting darker and 
darker till it came time to go to conference in Madras. 
At the last moment I felt it" my duty to stay from confer- 
ence, and try to help out somehow. Thus I wrote to the 
Bishop excusing myself from attendance. What shall I 
say? Our extremity became God's opportunity to bless us 
with a great blessing. Before the conference was over I 
received a letter from an old friend who had before done 
liberally in this work. That letter was worth Rs. 17,000 
of the Nizam's money. Do I need to say \\ e were filled 
with gratitude too great to contain? Just before I had 
ordered all work at Jagdalpur stopped. Now with a heart 
trembling with joy I ordered an advance again and we 
were able to repay what we had borrowed. Coming as it 
did just before the holidays, it made a time of gladness 
all around. We had a glad christian dinner for all our 
camp in Yellandu on New Year's day. It was prepared 
by the christains mostly and came off in the open air in 
front of our school chapel. Over 100 persons, old and 
young, partook with joy, and it was a pleasant sight for us 
and the Plumley's to share. The whole affair cost about 
Rs. 30, or less than $10. 

The work among the villages around us, and in the 



258 OUR WORK. 

town was vigorously carried on though no conversions 
encouraged us. In Sironcha our preachers prosecuted 
their work with much cheer and some very hopeful cases of 
inquireis were found. 

Soon after this deep trial of faith was ended God 
poured out his spirit in Jagdalpur and four souls were 
blessedly converted. One was a Catholic and the other 
three were heathen converts. 

Our force of workers was increased at Yellandu. An 
old man named Samuel, who had been many years in 
the Lutheran Mission, south of us, came to us and at first 
we did not feel disposed to keep him. But after months 
of trial with us he became a member of the Methodist 
Church and a preacher with us on Rs. 15 per month, 
Nizam's money, about equal to $3. So the year closed 
with a staff of eight preachers in Yellandu and Sironcha. 

Brother Nursaya is troubled with asthma and was very 
despondent over his health ab^ut this time, but a change 
cheered him up and his condition improved, so that he 
was able to resume his work at Sironcha He was made 
a member of conference in December and he will prob- 
ably be missionary in charge in this station for years to 
come. 

C. B. W. 



OUR WORK. 



259 



I here append a report of Dr. Batstone's medical work 
in Jagdalpur for the first six months after his wife went 
there : 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL HOSPITAL. 

JAGDALPUR, BASTAR, INDIA. 



SEMI-ANNUAL STATEMENT. 



PATIENTS TREATED. 


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Ont-Door Dept. In-Door Dept. 


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« 



^ K/5.EZ> MONTHL Y ST A TEMENT 
OUT- DO OR DEPT. 



1893 



1 



1894 



June 

July 

August 
September 
October. . . 
November. 
December 
January . . . 



MONTH 



Total 

Grand Total. 



New Cases 



39 
100 
120 
192 
252 
102 
104 
138 



1,173 



Calls 



23 
147 
151 
295 
328 
230 
207 
175 



1,502 
2,735 



8 days in June only. Dispensary opened 22nd June. 



260 OUR WORK. 

During the year 1893 I did all I could to get the W. F. 
M. S. to enter Bastar with us. For a long time there 
seemed no token of encouragement in this direction. At 
last however, Bishop Thoburn took up the matter and Mrs. 
Keen of Philadelphia, then visiting India, became inter- 
ested, and authorized Miss Blackmar to draw on her for 
the expenses of the tour to explore, and the Bishop then 
commissioned her to go with me and the Presiding Elder, 
Bro. G. K. Gilder, and settle the question of the ladies 
going in with us for the conquest of Bastar. 

The day before we started from Yellandu a telegram in- 
formed us our mission house at Jagdalpur was burned 
down March 1st. 

On the 8th of March, 1893, I set out from home at Yel- 
landu on my third tour. Brother G. K. Gilder, my Pre- 
siding Elder, and Miss L. E. Blackmar of Hyderabad, 
accompanied me. Brother Gilder to look up all I have re- 
ported, and look at the possibilities of greater extensions, 
and Miss Blackmar to arrange to plant W. F. M. S. work 
all over the field. It is with deep thankfulness I record 
that the Lord has very largely answered my prayers for the 
awakening of practical missionary interest in this great and 
long neglected field. 

Owing to many unavoidable circumstances, we were de- 
layed from starting till the hot weather was well on us, and 
we expected some warm traveling. We made only a bout 
200 miles in a month, but we did not find the weather un- 
bearable nor the tour fruitless. Much of the marching was 
by night and that over roadless jungles. That is, we have 
had only the commonest cart tracks often through thickets 
and rocky hills. Wesley / sbury, thirteen years of age 
nearly, rode the fourth horse in our cavalry brigade. We 
had, as far as Sironcha, a large stock of medicines for the 
Jagdalpur hospital besides a lot. of iron and iron ware for 
the bungalow and hospital in Jagdalpur. Thence this 
equipage preceded us. We had three small tents and 



OUR WORK. 



261 



these were not always pitched if we found shade without. 
Together we scanned the line from Sironcha to Yellandu 
over which we have been scattering gospel seed for the 
last two years and do still. My companions were im- 
pressed with the excellence of Goondala as a place for 
the location of two good preachers. At Sironcha we were 
detained a whole week and much good was done. Brother 




The First Bastar Convert. 

Gilder was impressed that my nine acre lot was by no 
means enough for the work that ought to be inaugurated 
here, and made forthwith an application for a fifty acre lot 
more. Miss Blackmar found what seemed to be just the 
thing for the W. F. M. S. and set negotiations on foot to 
get it and commence the work of her society soon. I was 
able to get fuller information about some property that we 
occupy already and want to purchase. We were a little 
impatient of the delay, but good work was done and time 



262 OUR WORK. 

will probably show that we were providentially hindered. 
My companions were deeply impressed with the value of 
this point as a centre for work up and down the Godavery 
valley for 300 miles, taking in all the Telugu field of the 
Nizam's country east and north of that already taken up. 
To me, Sironcha had seemed an important point in the 
Yellandu Bastar work, being within the land of the Kois. 
Our preachers have done good work here for the year 
past and already the results begin to appear. Brother 
Gilder, at our Sunday service, baptised Somnath whom I 
picked up in Bastar last year. The young man has been a 
seeker for a long time, has come out very brightly at last 
and was baptised in Sironcha — the first fruits of Bastar. 
We went to see a very deeply interested family two miles 
out who ask for baptism, and we were much struck with 
their simple story of the way they were led to turn away 
from idols to seek the Lord. We were almost persuaded 
to baptise them, but at last consulting with Nursaya, we 
decided to wait till our return this way, meanwhile have 
them more fully instructed in the things of God. Surely a 
great harvest awaits us in this valley if we be faithful, In 
Sironcha district are over 10,000 most accessible people. 
The encouragement our preachers meet with is very great. 
From this place we deployed along the east bank of the 
Godavery for twenty miles, noting the many large villages, 
and taking note of the classes of people who live in them. 
We then turned north-eastward up the west bank of the 
Indravatti, Bastar' s great river, and then crossed over into 
Bastar. At Bhopalpatnam we camped for several days; 
Brother Gilder was summoned home by wire. This was a 
great disappointment to us all but the needs of a sick wife, 
called a dutiful husband home. I returned to the Nizam's 
side of the Godavery with our brother and returned to join 
camp and resume the march on Monday, the 2nd of April. 
While waiting here, Miss Blackmar and the preachers did 
some little missionary work in the bazaar, Miss Blackmar 



OUR WORK. 263 

called to see the Rani and had some talk with her and saw 
the palace and its surroundings. The time was not lost. 

Monday the 2nd of April we moved on toward Bastar by 
easy marches. On the morning of the 4th we made the 
first ascent to the lower plateau. No sooner were we up, 
than we noted the difference in the atmosphere, though 
the altitude was but little above that of Yellandu. But it 
was a real difference to us to be only 700 feet higher than 
we had been for two weeks in the Godavery valley. All 
day at Vijyapur we saw no more than ninety-four degrees 
in the hottest of the day. This is at present the head-quar- 
ters of the tahsit, but will not be so long. It was once 
somewhat of a place but it is little better than a waste 
now. From this on to Gangalur we passed the following 
day, and the way had been made very pleasant for us by a 
small shower of rain in the night, and the many beautiful 
mango trees on this sixteen mile march was a most cheery 
sight. I have before this noted that as we find tamarind 
all over the Nizam's Dominions, so in Bastar we find the 
mango. The new leaves make this magnificent tree of 
India a thing of beauty at this time of the year. At Gan- 
galur we camp for a day. Here we must have a mission- 
ary station soon. How great the need of a medical mis- 
sionary here. A great ovation was given Miss Blackmar 
on the part of the women of the Mallah section of the pop- 
ulation. Old and young they came to the tent to see her, 
and I bear her witness that she tried to talk with them. 
But her Hindustani would not fit in the best. But as I 
write she is having better success in the Hindi-school over 
the way. The school house is a shed without walls with a 
grass roof. Our camp is in a fine tope of mangoes. By 
the side of the tope is a tobacco garden. Hundreds of 
times I suppose it has been said that man is the only ani- 
mal that will eat tobacco. We are now in a position to 
positively deny this serious statement that has so long come 
down heavily on tobacco users. We all saw several goats 



26 4 OUR WORK. 

and their kids deliberately eating the broad green leaves of 
the filthy weed with apparent relish for some time. It 
came to us that the goats of Gangalur were not aware of 
the bad company they were getting into. We had some 
conversation with the people as to their wellbeing and 
their need of medicine and medical help. The death rate 
is certainly abnormally large and yet they look on it all as 
their fate. Many die in infancy that might be saved, had 
they a little help. In this district up to date, nothing ap- 
pears to have been done for the medical comfort of the 
people ; yet right here by orders of the British Govern- 
ment, hundreds of rupees are paid in advance for a stock of 
opium which is sent here and held in the Government 
treasury and sold out to the people and supplied to a con- 
tractor as well. We submit that it is a rotten source of 
revenue and a wrong thing to do in any case, and especially 
so when no medical provision is yet made for the benefit of 
these poor people. 

As we journey, we are stuck, as in previous years, with 
the rich soil and the sparsity of the population. One vil- 
lage we camped in, two years ago had at that time forty 
houses, and has now but four, and the presence of a police 
station near by, was given as the reason for the depopula- 
tion of che village. But what a field is here for the poor 
of India's over-populated districts, if the tide could but be 
started. But these poor of India are slow to move from 
the home or customs of their fathers. 

As hitherto it comes to me that the hope of this land and 
these poor, is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Secular gov- 
ernment alone cannot do all that ought to be done for 
these people. There is no need so great in Bastar to-day 
as the need of the gospel. These people waken my deep- 
est sympathies more and more each time I see them. If 
God did not send me hither to call the attention of chris- 
tians to these neglected regions I am at a loss to understand 
the ways of the Master. 



OUR WORK. 265 

Up to this date I do not see more than the beginning of 
the much needed work, but I believe the good time is com- 
ing when all these people shall be the Lord's. Whether I, 
or my church, is to do all that will be required or not may 
not now be said ; but somehow, I expect to see the answer 
to my prayers for Bastar before I go hence. 

From Gangalur we moved on for thirty miles over 
ground we had not hitherto seen till we struck the old 
road at Nelsenar. Thence we moved on till we reached 
Jagdalpur on the 13th of April. All through the part of 
the Nizam's country we passed and the Godavery valley 
we found everything dry and parched. Scarce a tree had 
leaves. When we ascended the first plateau at Vijyapur 
we found the country a little greener but when about fifty 
miles this side of Jagdalpur we ascended the main plateau 
and found ourselves 2,000 feet above the sea the change 
was marvellous. At Katanar below we found but little 
green but in two hours we found ourselves in a land robed 
in living green. It was a sight to cheer the weary heart,. 
Miss Blackmar said the country looked like Pennsylvania. 
vShowers of rain are common all through the season on the 
plateau and the evaporation does not seem to be so great 
and the result is a land of beauty all the year. 

At Jagdalpur we soon came to see how great was the 
loss of the Mission and to Dr. and Mrs. Batstone by the 
fire that burned them out on the first day of March. The 
doctor was out at his work and Sister B. was not aware of 
the fire till the whole house seemed to be_ ablaze and she 
had barely time to make good her escape with little Evan- 
geline from the burning building. It was the grass house 
I began for them last year with such additions as the doc- 
tor had made during the year. All that was saved was the 
clothing they wore and that without a single change. All 
the doctor's medical and religious books, even to their bib- 
les, went, Medical instruments and apparatus, with fur- 
niture, clothing, and personal effects, with many things 



266 OUR WORK. 

presented them on their marriage, the house, etc., repre- 
sented a. loss in money of more than Rs. 4,000. Money 
can't replace much that went. Really they have suffered 
the loss of all things. And strangest part of it all is, that 
they both say they cannot mourn over it and they bear the 
loss joyfully, declaring that God has made the loss of all 
a great blessing to them. Bishop Thoburn on the eve of 
his departure for America heard of the loss and sent them 
Rs. 100. . Others have sent in help and many have written 
letters of sympathy. But it will be some time before they 
can get to be as comfortable as they were before. A sew- 
ing machine is now on the way overland for them and 
when they get this they will be able to do somewhat to 
replenish their very spare wardrobe. 

We saw the two wings of the hospital started while there 
and the doctor will live in one and work in the other for 
the present, till a bungalow and dispensary is built. When 
we left Jagdalpur on the 24th, the work was in a fine state 
of progress and our pioneers were in fine cheer at their 
prospects. We had to take the masons from Yellandu for 
the building work at Jagdalpur. Carpenters and coolies 
can be had there. 

Leaving Miss Blackmar in Jagdalpur, with my preachers, 
I left on the 25th, for a run south to Sukma, a place as yet 
not visited by us. We reached this place in four days, the 
distance being sixty-four miles. In going south we went 
down off the plateau to 600 feet above the sea at Sukma. 
As may be imagined we found a different atmosphere. At 
Jagdalpur we enjoyed eighty to ninety-six degrees, at once 
we came to no at midday at Sukma, on the 29th of 
April. 

From this place we went west twenty-five miles and 
climbed the plateau again to Mokpal where for the last 
eleven years till last December, the C. M. S. has had two 
or more workers but no missionaries. When Gen. Haig 
was acting as missionary at Dummigudium early in the 



OUR WORK. 267 

eighties he sought to lead the C. M. S. into Bastar, by 
taking up five acres of land at Mokpal and getting the 
workers appointed there. But in December last, the Rev. 
John Cain of Dummigdium handed over to me this station 
with all property held there. It was my business in part 
on this occasion to take over the property and decide what 
we should do with it. After looking over the ground we 
concluded the place was good and the field needy, and that 
we ought to made the station a medical one as soon as con- 
venient. Our CM. S. friends have found the field un- 
fruitful and so have with the heartiest good will handed it 
over to me and withdrawn their workers. We are not at 
all discouraged by the report of the land thus coming to us 
and so shall try to man the station as soon as we can. We 
found the field surrounding Mokpal the purest Koi we 
have yet seen. Telugu is almost utterly unknown, as is 
the Hindee of Jagdalpur, and the only language current is 
the original Koi. Indeed we seemed to be here in the 
very honK, J the Koi. Hemmed in by hills so as to make 
a field much to itself are about 300 villages of these pure 
Kois. It is the most rugged part of Bastar I have yet 
seen. The hills too, differ from those of other parts in 
that they are cultivable to the very top. Here we found 
many of the old Koi grave yards with their peculiar and 
many shaped head-stones. But the people seem to be 
abandoning the custom of erecting these stones now. We 
have only seen one new stone erected within a year. They 
burn the body anywhere and then in memory of the person 
deceased, erect a head-stone in some given place. This 
Mokpal field will be a little difficult of access, but it is 
therefore more needful to make it a field to itself. Mok- 
pal is forty-five miles to the west of Jagdalpur. Its eleva- 
tion is about 1,500 feet above the sea. 

From this we made our way twenty miles to the west, 
to the top of the Baila Dila hills, to see if a sanitarium 
could be made there if needed. We reached the foot of 



268 OUR WORK. 

the hills on the 3rd of May and the next morning, leaving 
our carts, we collected ten begaries for our beds, cooking 
utensils, etc., and on the 4th ascended 2,000 feet to the 
topmost part of these stalwart hills. The ascent was not 
so difficult as I had expected, but what a sight and what a 
breeze. Here 4,000 feet above the sea we had a view such 
as I did not expect. Sixty miles away to the west we 
could see and identify the hills along the Godavery. For 
seventy-five miles east, towering range over range, as far 
as the eye could see, were the Jeypur hills. Much of Bas- 
tar was at our feet and the sight was one not soon to be 
forgotten. We came up well warmed up and the breeze 
seemed icy cold to us at 8 a. m., in this the hottest month 
of the year. We spent the whole day exploring and then 
slept on the top that night to get an idea of the night tem- 
perature. There are fine locations here for sanataria if 
needed, and splendid spring water abounds near at hand. 
Roads will need to be made to reach the hills and for the 
ascent to the hill. But this is neither expensive nor imprac- 
ticable. Well pleased with the discovery made, we 
descended on the morning of the 5th and returned to Mok- 
pal for Sunday. 

On the 10th we were back in Jagdalpur but having had 
four days of the hardest travel that has yet fallen to our lot 
in Bastar. The hills were certainly terrible for our carts. 
There we found Brother Gilder, who had dropped down 
from Raipur. On the nth he baptised the four converts 
and organized the first quarterly conference in Bastar. 
God has given Dr. and Mrs. B. soul saving success the 
very first year, and these four converts are the result. 
They are most promising cases. Sunday following Evan- 
geline was baptised, and the next day a little one for the 
first convert family. Our little flock in Jagdalpur num- 
bers eight souls old and young. As I write this morning 
the doctor writes me that two more seekers have come to 
them of the sweeper caste. 



270 OUR WORK. 

On the 14th I transferred to George K. Gilder and Miss 
Blackmar one half of our fifty-three acre building site for 
W. F. M. vS. purposes, and we hope to, see the ladies at 
work here early in ninety-five. 

Leaving J. this same day we visited the waterfalls at 
Chitterkot and made our way on north to Kondagaon and 
showed the W. F. M. S. trustees the land available for 
them there. Here we parted camps and Brother Gilder 
with Miss Biackmar went north exploring the way to 
Raipur while I with my camp turned back homeward. I 
had planned a return through the Maria country but a few 
days fever made me abandon this plan. On the 24th of May 
we bade our missionaries and christians at Jagdalpur fare- 
well and set out for Sironcha and home. Before we 
parted we had the Lord's supper together. 

We have now selected all our building sites in the five 
Bastar stations and in a little time shall have all the papers 
and shall be ready to begin operations as soon as we can 
get our medical missionaries on the spot. We are well 
pleased with the locations given us, and by God's blessing 
we shall see a grand harvest in this land for the Lord. 

Nine days march brought us to Sironcha on Saturday 
night the 2nd of June. When we got off the Bastar pla- 
teau we found we could not travel by day ; we had sud- 
denly come into a temperature that registered 114 degrees 
in our camp. So for a week we traveled all night and 
camped all day. 

We have sent to Jagdalpur twenty-five cart loads of iron 
ware, clothing, machines and other necessary things for 
our work and workshop there. The cart hire for this 300 
miles of hill and valley is about Rs. 800. There is no 
other way in this the beginning of this work with no 
railway. 

I am more than glad that Brother Gilder and Miss 
Blackmar have seen the country and are pleased with it. 
We have done a good year's work and hope we may get 
home. 




Two Orphan Girls. 



272 OUR WORK. 

We are closing a tour of about iooo miles in much com- 
fort within a little over three months. Four of our 
preachers have accompanied us and much preaching has 
been done that we hope will bear fruit. Among other 
things we have the beginning of a Koi vocabulary and 
skeleton grammar. 

At Yellandu we have been tried with sickness among our 
christians. We hardly see why, but believe that there 
must be some good intended for us in it all. While away 
from home, a letter comes to say that two orphan girls 
have been taken into the mission. We could wish for ioo 
orphans. No work we have done in India seems to us so 
gratifying as that for orphans. But for this work we have 
not had the workers we have to-day. While Beemaya and 
Samuel are keeping up the preaching in the home field, 
Nursaya and W. Eraya are at work at Sironcha and Chen- 
day a, Ramaya and Yati Hamama are with us on tour, or 
as we sometimes say, blazing the forest in Bastar. 

YELLANDU BASTAR MISSION FIELD 
CALENDAR. 

YELLANDU CIRCUIT. 

C. B. and E. M. Ward, missionaries. Rama Gnanappa, 
Yati Hanama, Beemaya, W. Eraya and Samuel, preachers. 
Church Members forty-nine, Probationers six, Sunday- 
school Superintendents three, Class-Leaders three, School 
Teacher one, School Chapel one, and one day school. 

SIRONCHA CIRCUIT. 

M. Nursaya, G. Chandaya and G. Yellaya, preachers. 
Members six. 

GANGALUR CIRCUIT. 

MOKPAL CIRCUIT. 
JAGDALPUR CIRCUIT. 

W. H. L. and Alice Batstone, missionaries. Church 



OUR WORK- 273 

Members five and Probationers two. Sunday-school Su- 
perintendent one and Class Leader one. 

KONDAGAON CIRCUIT. 
ANTAGARH CIRCUIT. 

By the above it will be seen that we have only four mis- 
sionaries and eight preachers in all this great field and 
they in three circuits. While four circuits are utterly un- 
manned. The entire field comprises a population of nearly 
600,000. It is a rare thing to find so large a field unen- 
tered by any mission, but this is what we found when we 
first visited Bastar in 1892. And to this day we are the 
only parties on the ground and it looks as if the Lord had 
given us a commission to evangelize this people. To do 
it we need many helping hands. We thank God that He 
is raising up for us more native workers and we are earn- 
estly praying for the pioneers we yet need. Who will 
come over and help us and that soon. 

Five preachers are now at work in the bazaars and vil- 
lages, with much to encourage them. Yellandu itself 
grows monthly larger. Continued call for labor in the 
mines is bringing people in here from the four quarters of 
the compass. Latterly some people from the sea-coast 
have been dropping in here and among them a few chris- 
tians of different missions, and we try to do what we can 
for them ; for left to themselves they will soon be more 
heathen than christian. But I fear that the worst mate- 
rial the missions represented had in stock, has floated into 
our sea and so the work for and among them is not very 
encouraging. But the people who are coming here from 
the east coast, have all heard much of the gospel from the 
Baptist and C. M. S. missionaries and their helpers. 

Our Presiding Elder held the quarterly conference on 
July 10th. Preachers, Sunday-school Superintendents, 
Class-Leaders, Stewards and one Committee reported well 
of the work of the church spiritually and financially. The 



274 OUR WORK, 

Telugu church services and Sunday-school have been 
growing in interest and numbers this year steadily. The 
former has an average attendance of sixty to eighty and 
the latter nearly i oo 

The English Sunday-school reported Rs. 24-14-9, for the 
last quarter and the Telugu S. S. for the same time Rs. 
8-0-4. The Stewards reported Rs. 664-7-1, and expended 
for the same long quarter Rs. 626-9-0, leaving a balance 
in hand of Rs. 37-14-1. We observed that the amount 
contributed by the native christian community increases 
and the blessing of the Lord rests upon them in their busi- 
ness. They at present give about Rs. fifty per month. 
Other members of the church and friends put into their 
hands the balance of the amount needed to carry on the 
work they have undertaken, costing nearly Rs. 150 per 
month. They continue to manage the affairs of the 
church and as they assess the salaries of the preachers so 
they pay them. 

At the quarterly conference Ramaya, Yati, and Bee- 
maya were all recommended to the district conference for 
admission into the annual conference on trial, For the 
next four months it was arranged that Brother Plumley 
look after the English services and Sunday-school and 
Brother Ramaya be responsible for the Telugu work. 

We are very thankful to the Lord for so many favors 
in so many ways, but we do so much long to see souls 
being converted to God. The people have been hearing 
the gospel for a long time and great numbers now 
daily listen with deep interest and we feel that the 
time has fully come when we should see souls coming 
to the Lord. 

We must search our hearts and see whether we are not 
in the Lord's way in the work, and if not, betake our- 
selves to fasting and prayer till the times of refreshing 
from on high come upon these poor souls. 

We cannot persuade ourselves that we should go on 



276 OUR WORK. 

preaching- year after year without seeing souls saved. It 
was not so in the times new testament writers tell us of. 

OUR VILLAGE AT YELLANDU. 

We are getting into shape at last and begin to see what 
we may expect out of our colony in the near future by the 
blessing of the Lord. 

In land tax and produce this year the village has netted 
Rs. 2.700. This Ave consider about one-half the sum we 
shall get in a couple of years more. The attempted con- 
fiscation of our village by the Nizam's Government put us 
back more than a year in our reconstruction work. But 
in two years from this date we expect to have the village 
up to the average of its capabilities. We have been en- 
deavoring to get all the ways to income in hand and feel 
as if we had made a start. In 1891 we purchased one 
candy of paddy and planted a part and lent out the rest. 
This is but the fourth year and that candy has grown into 
more than thirty. By lending out three and taking in re- 
turn four, the putwarries and patels of villages in these 
parts make more than the land tax amounts to. From the 
beginning I have given out four and have taken in return 
five and have reserved this to cultivators on our own vil- 
lage. Those who get the benefit of our rate, think we are 
kind. We have shown that sugar cane yields well here 
and saffron and ginger as well. We have lately put a good 
stock of singara into the tank. Up Jagdalpur side every 
tank is full of this productive vine, and it yields a hand- 
some profit with very little trouble or cost. We are also 
trying to get 1,000 babool trees to grow. This wood is 
very valuable and is scarce in these parts. After the 
Buckingham canal was constructed in the time of the last 
great famine the banks were seeded down with babool. 
For the last five years there has been a great abundance 
of that wood cut yearly from the canal banks for sale. It 
grows easily and upon ground where other things wont 



OUR WORK. 277 

grow, so we are trying hopefully for 1,000 trees from 
which we may hope for a good return in about ten years. 
Meanwhile they will cost us little and help us utilize 
ground otherwise idle. We are getting a garden well un- 
der way with all sorts of good fruit trees many of them 
grafted. Thus in time, we shall reap if we faint not, and 
our christians will have learned how more effectually to 
get the good out of God's ground there is in it, for them 
who seek it. 

Our tanks and villages in Bastar will in a few years do 
us no little help in our work there. But the work calls 
for patience such as the successful emigrants of all lands 
possess. I for one have a call to help the poor Indian to 
dig his native gold out of the ground that Satan has caused 
to be all but lost sight of in weeds of sin. 

About our home in the station may now be seen more 
than 500 fruit trees, on which we have bestowed much 
labor, and even now we begin to see the fruit of our labor 
in lime, guaves, plantations and other things. 

We are as ever a faith and works mission as the ring of the 
workshop anvil and the smoke of our lime kilns give daily 
witness. And the best of all is the Lord is with us. 

It will take us years to get all our Bastar mission stations 
up to what Yellandu is now, but I hope to see all that and 
more, ere I go hence. It pains me to see Satan getting all 
the good of the land when the Lord intended it for his 
own children. As God helps us, we shall make him trouble 
in doing so well as he has been done in the past. 

People are coming in and settling upon the village, who 
are not christians and those become a little parish of souls 
for us to evangelize. Our opportunities for good work are 
grand and we need grace to be faithful. 

JAGDALPUR. 

At last writing the Batstones were living in the wing of 
the hospital we started when I was there in April. All the 



OUR WORK. 279 

buildings undertaken were well under way and prospects 
cheering. All the goods we started up to them got through 
before the rain fell, and they are now a little more com- 
fortable than they were. They have the tools and machines 
for a workshop like ours at Yellandu and will no doubt 
soon see the profit of it. 

The Transit and Building Fund Society (New York) on 
learning of the results of the fire at Jagdalpur ordered 
their treasurer to expend $500 for the relief of the 
station and the Doctor and Mrs. Batstone. Of this $364 
was put into purchases for their benefit in New York 
and the balance remitted to them in cash. 

Thus about Rs. 2,000 of the loss of the missionaries and 
the mission has come in again. It is less than half the 
value of what went up in smoke, but for it all praise the 
name of the Lord. 

At latest writing all were well and full of zeal for the 
souls of the people. 

They need a good pair of Hindee-speaking workers there. 
One of their converts will in time make a worker, but 
must be made. 

Let these workers have a chance and the Lord will bless 
and souls will be saved there. 

During my absence in Bastar, Sister Ward had been sick 
most of the time. It seemed to be at last a matter of 
necessity that she should go where she could rest wholly 
for a time, or in all probability break down altogether. 
Never before had it been possible for us to leave the work 
even for a time. Bro. and Sister Plumley were ready to 
nold shop for us a few months, and the workers were in a 
condition to carry on their work without me for a time and 
so we decided that we would take a trip to America. 
Everything was therefore hastily arranged and advantage 
taken of the reduced fare to get away as soon as possible. 

On the 1 6th of July we left Yellandu, a company of 
eight persons. A missionary father and mother with their 



280 OUR WORK. 

five children and one of the Indian girls we have brought 
up to years of womanhood. Our home had presented a 
very busy scene for a couple of weeks before the start. To 
secure the cheap passage rate we must needs take the 
Arabia, or pay more than Rs. 1,000 more to get to New 
York. Our effects all packed up, we were so helped of 
the Lord that we enjoyed the rare experience of having 
all our things and ourselves at the railway station in time 
for the train with a few minutes for rest. A few dear 
friends accompanied us to the first junction, and sent us off 
with tears and smiles. Two nights and a day on train 
brought us to Bombay. Here other friends met us and 
did us no little kindness during our waiting for the 
steamer's departure. On the nineteenth we left the har- 
bor. About four hours at sea, and as if in battle, one and 
another fell, till the upper deck was about clear of our 
company, I alone was found unslain. Upon me therefore 
fell the task of nursing more or less all the rest. But the 
next day found the children nearly all up, and bold enough 
to go above again. But their mother bravely showed dis- 
cretion for another day. 

We set out upon our journey in the moonsoons, and so 
we had moonsoon breezes at their full force in the Arabian 
sea. Mighty waves laved our decks for eight days out. 
There was not much comfort in the voyage so far. When 
however we passed into the Gulf of Aden we found our 
wind milder and the sea calmer and the sun shone as if it 
loved to make us happy if it could. Eleven days brought 
us to the entrance of the Red Sea and found nearly all our 
ship's company in good trim and spirits. From a distance 
we saw Arabia's barren rocks that the British lion crouches 
upon the prow of, at Aden and at Perim we admired the 
Lion on guard at the gate-way to the sea of the Pharoahs. 
As we saw Arabia we thought of Israelite, Phoenician, 
Ishmaelite, Bedouin and Arab. In mind we queried: Is 
Mr. Bent right when he says he has found the land from 



282 OUR WORK. 

which the Phoenician learned letters? The Red Sea treated 
us well ? and one day a terrible rocking was all the com- 
pany aboard wanted. Much of the time we were in sight 
of land on the one side or the other. When the peaks of 
Sinai loomed up on our right we had resort to our bibles 
to find all there was there about those historic rocks. 

Fortunately for us we had an old missionary with us who 
had wandered all over the hills and valleys of the penin- 
sula, namely Dr. Jacob Chamberlain of the Arcot Mission. 
With his help we were able to identify j ebul Musa, the 
encampment by the sea, with the seventy palm trees (Dr. 
Chamberlain says there are but sixty-eight now) ; the wells 
of Moses and the probable place where all the host of 
Israel crossed the sea just behind where we anchored at 
Suez. We read over the bible story and retold it to the 
children. It was Sunday, a sacred day to travel over this 
sacred region. For another reason I found the memory of 
this spot sacred to me. Here a little less than eighteen 
years ago the Lord wrought a deliverance forme not less 
wonderful than that the Egyptians saw Him work for long 
oppressed Israel. My long night struggle with the cor- 
ruption of my unsanctified heart for seven years, my 
Savior brought to an end just here on the evening of De- 
cember ioth, 1876. Miriam's song was no more joyous 
than mine. The memory of my bondage seems like a 
nightmare. Oh how I groaned, prayed, struggled and 
tried. But all in vain. Jesus ended all, by bidding me 
while I was crying for help, " Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost." What a deliverance came with those words.. 

We entered the Suez canal the night of the 5th of 
August. The next day as we moved slowly along by 
Ismailia I could but look away toward Egypt and think of 
the wonderful history of that land and of the yet possible 
historic discoveries to be made there. But for Israel's hard- 
ships there, we might have known little or nothing of it all. 
The more the curious turn up to light in that land of 



OUR WORK. 283 

tombs, temples, sphinxs, obelisks, and pyramids the 
greater confirmation finds the bible record. Already a 
Tom Payne is an impossibility except bereft of honesty or 
reason. 

Port Said in 1876 was but begun, and now it is a great 
and wicked city. Men roam the streets to spot every 
stranger and openly solicit their patronage for places of in- 
famy. What need of some tremendously energeti: and 
courageous christian work here. Threepence to post a let- 
ter reminds us that we are out of the Postal Union on 
Egyptian soil. 

In the Mediterranean and we began to think of another 
part of the bible and Paul. His tours and labors called 
for one more glance over. When Crete and Clauda came 
in sight we felt that we were near the scene of the veteran 
missionary's toil. Just beyond we crossed the track his 
vessel went driven by the wind towards Malta. But we 
were intensely interested when we stood just off Rhegium. 
There after the shipwreck he had touched and then passed 
on through the Straits of Messina. The scenery along the 
passage of the strait was beautiful but the. most interesting 
of all to us was the fact that this was the way the Apostle 
went on his way to Rome. The terraced hillsides and 
continuous sprinkling of houses all along the coast for fif- 
teen or twenty miles both on the Italian and Sicilian coasts 
was indeed a sight to be remembered. Opposite Paul's 
Rhegium stands Messina, a large city, to the eye at least. 
As we passed the narrowest part of the strait I tried to see 
where the Sirens sat and sang. I could see no bandstand 
either on Scylla or Charibydis. The latter on Sicilian 
shores is all sand and Italia's Scylla is a rock indeed, but 
full three miles of ocean intervene, and never probably was 
less. Dr. Chamber!? in says the Sirens are not kept up in 
these days owing to the expense, so we passed safely and 
yet charmed, (by what we saw). Not least among the 
wonders of this Saturday (Aug. 11.,) was ^Etna's smoking 



284 OUR WORK. 

crown way off to our left, After we had turned around 
the point of Sicily and made westward again for hours we 
still saw this lofty volcano till we found ourselves well nigh 
along side of Stromboli. We were told that Stromboli and 
iEtna work alternately. When we were passing along 
side of ^Etna her fires were dying down and as we neared 
vStromboli her fires were waking up. Smoking mountains 
were a great wonder to the children. 

They call this summer but we found it extremely cold as 
we went forward from Messina toward the Strait of Boni- 
facio and on to Marseilles. It was cold as an Indian win- 
ter. We sighted France in the early afternoon of the 13th 
of August and anchored before the magnificent harbor at 
Marseilles at 9 p. m. The next morning we were tied up 
to the docks by seven o'clock. All these parts are historic. 
Evidence has been found in Marseilles in modern times 
that show that the ancient kings of Sidon were here. Ital- 
ian Sardinia has also yielded Phoenician foot prints. As 
we passed the Strait of Bonifacio the Corsican rocks upon 
our right reminded us that they bare Napoleon Bonaparte. 
Marseilles is a city about the size of Madras, with a harbor 
perhaps unexcelled. In front of the harbor is one of the 
finest breakwaters in the world. Anchored here we found 
more steamers than it was ever our lot to see in any one 
harbor at one time. Then there were sail ships by the 
hundred. Fishermen's craft and pleasure yacts too many 
to try to count. Here among them all we discharged and 
took on cargo for three and a half days. Leaving Indian 
wheat, linseed and peanuts, we took on oil, pig lead, Rus- 
sian and Turkish wool and a few other things much of 
which is to go to America. 

While our ship was here we hunted up the Salvation 
Army, attended one of their meetings, and through an in- 
terpreter spoke of India and salvation to a small house full 
of the middle class. At this meeting we met one of the 
Guinness Algerian missionaries who chanced to be in the 
city and dropped into the meeting as did we. 



OUR WORK. 285 

He, Mr. Liley, was our interpreter. An elderly lady of 
English birth, the widow of a French gentleman, we also 
met and we were all invited to take tea with her the fol- 
lowing day which we did. Though a member of the aris- 
tocacy she took pleasure in sympathizing with and helping 
the S. A. in their unpopular and difficult work in Marseilles. 
We found her a dear christian soul and enjoyed her com- 
pany, and after a song and a prayer with her and the S. 
A. Major and his wife, we bade them all good-bye in the 
name of the Lord. 

The same day Mr. Liley took us about to see the city. 
Notre Dame is the name of a Roman Catholic church on a 
hill overlooking the harbor, and especially reg-arded, as 
the seamen's cathedral. Topping the tower of the church, 
is an immense image or statue of the Virgin Mary. The 
full name of the church is Notre Dame de Gard or our 
Guardian Lady. The harbor is regarded as under the 
especial guardianship of the Virgin Mary. To the top of 
the hill we went and found the church in the centre of 
military barracks, and soldiers on duty in the midst. We 
were taken to the top by a hydraulic car and made our way 
about as we pleased to see inside and out. What shall we 
say? Idolatry we have never more certainly seen in India 
than we saw it here. And as for abominable imposture, 
at and around the door language fails to express me. In- 
side were numbers bowing down to images, statues, pic- 
tures, crosses, relics, etc., and outside and at the very door 
were similar things in miniature for sale at the hands of 
holy sisters who thus serve the church, not the Lord, and 
these same holy servants of the church have for you holy 
cigars, cheroots, cigarettes, all sorts of liquor, etc. We 
saw ladies who had come to pray, sitting upon the church 
door-step regaling themselves with whiskey and bread. 

From this eminence we had a splendid sight of the 
whole city but we came down with a heavy heart to think 
that all this heathenism was carried on under the name of 



286 OUR WORK. 

Jesus Christ. Then we visited a cathedral that has been 
thirty years in building and is far from finished yet. We 
did not ask the name but simply took a look round and 
here found worse idolatry than we saw at Notre Dame. In 
this magnificent building were a number of chapels where 
mass is said, at cost to suit the purses of those who come. 
In one we were told mass could be said for one franc, in 
another for five, in another for ten, in another for 1,000. 
And so on according to the means of the comers. But 
what here attracted our attention most, was a full sized 
statue of Christ upon the cross but bolted not nailed. The 
right foot we noticed was covered with a silver slipper toe. 
We did not wait long to see why this was. As each wor- 
shipper was about to retire from the bulding from any 
chapel he or she went before this statue, bowed to it, 
crossed themselves, stepped up upon a little raised plat- 
form and kissed this silver toe. Little children were put 
through the preliminary processes and lifted up to permit 
them to kiss the silver toe. We had no heart to take the 
dimensions of the great cathedral, almost as long in build- 
ing as was Herod's temple. We learned that in Marseilles 
were some thirty or forty Roman Catholic churches. On 
inquiry we learned that there were some three or four 
Protestant churches only (and they not noted for their ag- 
gressive character), a McCall mission, a Baptist mission, a 
sailors' home and a detachment of the S. A. These make 
the little gospel leaven that is silently and slowly working 
in this great city. Thank God that there are here a few of 
the Lord's own. The city is said to be fearfully wicked. 
The S. A. had an officer here who had wasted two million 
francs in riotous living and at last was converted. While 
a sinner, his father paid all his debts. Now that he is con- 
verted, he is disowned and outcast. 

On the eighteenth, at noon we moved out to sea again, 
bound for Liverpool. Does all this change of scene and 
people put India out of our minds or hearts? Nay 



OUR WORK. 287 

verily. Much of our time on ship board is spent in the 
interests of our Yellandu-Bastar work. The year thus far 
has been an uncommonly busy one. Three months on our 
tour and one busy one, getting ready for this' voyage, left 
much in arrears. Accounts, reports, correspondence and 
much beside. So a bundle of memos, a few books, a pack 
of letters and other data came aboard with us for attention 
on the way. Twenty-one letters went back and forward 
from Suez in spite of the boistrous Arabian sea. A large 
bundle of arrears has been cleared and we have found time 
to read Ben : Hur, William Penn, the History of the Turk, 
and re-read a part of Wesley Fletcher and Henry Martyn. 
Among our thoughts for the Telugu work is the hope of 
being able to bring out in the years to come illustrated 
brief biographies of some of the holy men and women of 
old. We have made selections of a list of twenty- four 
worthies whose histories would be nerve food for our rap- 
idly multiplying Telugu christians, if God will, we shall do 
something toward, this much needed work. 

Plans for the early taking up of all the remaining Bas- 
tar posts are in our thoughts and prayers day by day. If 
the Lord will, two main colonies we shall develop in that 
coming state. Two large tracts of land are promised us 
and we trust the Lord of Hosts is with us to bring them 
into shape. Would that we might bring back with us half 
a dozen missionaries for this needy field. Just what we 
shall be able to do in the little time we can remain in 
America, we cannot now say, but we have a feeling that 
the Lord is with us now, as truly as when we were led into 
Bastar. 

On the 26th of August we reached Liverpool and the 
following day we were transferred to Glasgow where we 
had to wait three days for the steamer. Our enjoyment 
was marred in this beautiful Scotch city by the sickness of 
Sister Ward. She was confined to her room most of the 
time. The Philps-Cockburn Temperance Hotel was our 



288 OUR WORK. 

home here and the stars and stripes always at the top re- 
minded us that we were nearing America. On the 30th 
we boarded the Ethiopia, the very same steamer on which 
in different years we had both crossed the Atlantic. Ten 
days landed us in New York. Here sickness and other 
causes kept us waiting "a few days when we took the train 
for Chicago via Suspension Bridge and met some old 
friends at the latter place, and pushed on to our old home 
in Cropsey, McLean Co., Illinois. Met by dear ones we 
were soon as comfortable as kindness could make us. 

Thus we have written our story. It is but the begin- 
ning of the work yet before us. Soon I return to the 
work in India, my wife and the children will stay in Amer- 
ica a couple of years and while recruiting health, the chil- 
dren can attend school and learn a few lessons in doing 
things for themselves which it is ever hard to learn in 
India. If God will, I hope we may have yet one-third of 
a century in that far off land and that our children may 
help us and carry on the work when we are gone. 

It is my prayer that these pages may be made a blessing 
to other young men and young women, encouraging them 
to trust God and undertake great things for Christ. Great 
fields yet lie untouched in many lands, awaiting the heroic 
young men and women of christian America. Oh, that 
many may be encouraged to say to God, "Here am I, send 
me." 

I praise God for my years in India. The story of all its 
toils and trials and victory is but imperfectly told in this 
little volume. Much that I have done has no mention 
here. Much we have gone through is not here. I have 
been an editor most of these years in a small way, and have 
written hundreds of articles for other papers than my own. 
I am left no room to question that this work has accom- 
plished much for the work of God in India and much in 
the souls of individual persons. I have for many years 
carried on an extensive correspondence, writing I suppose, 
not less than 500 letters per year. 



OUR WORK. 289 

I have had time for extensive reading and study. If 
any ask where, I will say simply by using all the minutes at 
home or abroad. A good man has said to us Methodist 
preachers, "Never be unimployed." In trying so to do, I 
have had plenty of time. My work is well begun and to 
God is my heart lifted that I may have grace to accom- 
plish all my Savior's will and be permitted to see, ere I go 
hence in my chosen field, many thousands led to the Sav- 
ior from heathen darkness. God has highly honored me 
and mine in sending us as pioneers to more than half a 
million of souls. We know of no field in all Methodism 
that could tempt us away from this. Our prayers is to God 
for grace and helpers to do all that lies before us. 

The work calls for many workers yet and not less than 
$50,000, before the whole of oiir industrial settlements are 
equipped to a productive base, that will forever make the 
work self-supporting. We have the unfailing promises of 
God to plead till all this good work is set up, a multitude 
gathered together to praise and serve the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

Interested friends may at any time for years to come I 
trust, write me as below. 

Now unto God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be 
honor and glory forever more. 

C. B. Ward, 
Yellandu, Nizam's Dominions, India/ 



2 9 o OUR WORK. 

" THE GOOD WORD OF GOD." 

God's word has formed so important a part in the de- 
velopment and discipline of our faith, as we have jour- 
neyed through a land by us hitherto unexplored, that we 
are constrained to add a few of the Bible searchings that 
have been so blessed to us, to show that God has given us 
a good foundation for this sort of work, and also in the 
hope that they may be blessed to others. 

"the fatherless." 

Deut. xxvi. 13, xiv, 29, and x. 18; Ps. xiv. 6-9, lxviii. 5, 
x. 14, lxxxii. 3, lxxii. 4, cxxvii. 3; Jer. xlix. n; Ex. xxii. 
22;Isa. i. 17; Deut. xxiv. 19-21; Ps. cxlvi. 9; Hos. 
xviii, 14. 

" THE POOR." 

Lev. xxiv. 22; Esth. ix. 22; Ps. cxxxii. 15, cxl. 12, lxix. 
32, xli. 1, lxxii. 13, lxxxii. 3, cvii. 41, cix. 31; Prov. xxxi. 
9, xxix. 7, xxviii. 8, xxviii. 27, xxii. 9, xvii. 5, xiv. 31; 
Zech. xi. 7 ; Deut. xv. 11; Lev. xix. 10; 1 Sam. ii. 8; Matt, 
xxvi. 11; Luke xiv. 13. 

" THE NEEDY." 

Deut. xv. 11; Ps. ix. 18, xii. 5, xxxv. 10, lxxii. 12, 13, 
cxviii. 7; Prov. xxxi. 9, 20; Isa. xiv. 30. 

"THE LORD'S POSSESSION." 

Josh. vi. 19, xi. 14; Gen. xiv. 19, 22; Ex. xiv. 19, ix. 29; 
Job xli. 11; Ps. cxv. 16, xxiv. 1, 1. 10, 12; 1 Chron. x. 26, 
28; Matt. xi. 25; Joel hi. 5; Hag. ii. 8; Lev, xxv. 23. 

" ALL THINGS." 

Matt. xi. 27; John iii. 35, xvi. 15; Rom. xi. 36; 1 Cor. 
viii. 6; Rom. viii. 32; I Cor. iii. 21; 2 Cor. iv. 15, vi. 10. 

"ASK." 

John xv. 7, 16; 1 Kings iii. 5 ; Ps. ii. 8; Isa. vii. 11; 
Matt. vii. 11, xviii. 19, xxl 22; John xvi. 13, 14; Eph. 
iii. 20. 



OUR WORK. 291 

" TRUST." 

Ps. xxxvii. 3, xxxiv. 22, lxii. 8; Job. xiii. 15; Ps. cxviii. 
8, 9 ; Prov. iii. 5 ; Isa. xxvi. 4 ; Ps. cxxv. 1 ; Isa. xii. 2 ; 1 
Peter ii. 6. 

" PRAYER." 

i Sam. i. 9, 27; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 13; Ps. v. 9, x. 17, xxii. 
24; Jonah ii. 2; Luke i. 13; Acts x. 31; Num. xi. 2, ii. 7 ; 2 
Kings xix. 15, 20; Dan. ix. 20, 21; Ez. viii. 21-23; Neh. i. 
5-8, ii. 4; Ps. cii. 17; Prov. xv. 8, 29; Phil. iv. 6; Eph. 
vi. 18. 

"riches." 

Eph. i. 7, 18, ii. 7, iii. 8, 16; Phil. iv. 19; Col. i. 17. 

"a word for a mission." 

Ps. ii. 8; Gen. xiii. 14-17, xv. 18; Deut. vi. 18; Num. 
xiv. 7-9; Josh. i. 7; Ps. xlvi. 10, xlvii. 8; Luke x. 2. 

"gold and silver." 

Matt. x. 9; Hag. iii. 8; Joel iii. 5; 1 Kings xv. ; 2 Sam. 
viii. 11 ; Josh. vi. 19. 

THE SPECIAL MISSIONS OF 

Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, Ezra, Jonah, and the prophets 
have been the subject of much study, profit, and encour- 
agement to us. 

These are a few of the flashes of light from God's word 
which have been greatly used of God in leading us. Along 
this royal road we walk and work, and pray and sing. 



292 OUR WORK. 

ACCOUNTS. 



We present two tables of figures: The first presents 
our accounts as compiled up to March ist, 1891. The 
second embraces our account as compiled from July ist, 
1890, the date when transactions with Bishop William 
Taylor's Transit and Building Fund Society commenced. 
Thus table No. II. goes back over ground covered in 
table No. I., eight months. I am unable to alter this, not 
having by me the necessary account books. Had I the 
needed data it would simply reduce the totals on both sides 
by perhaps Rs. 10,000, leaving the result June 30, 1894, how- 
ever, just the same. 

It will be seen that the total monies contributed by 
christian friends from different countries, has been in the 
15 years and 4 months, about Rs 164,000 or about $40,000. 
During these years we have earned in various ways and 
turned wholly into the mission nearly Rs. 7 0,000, or about 
$18,000. 

We have spent about Rs. 3, 000 in printing and circulating 
vernacular tracts and scattering holiness literature in India. 
We have spent Rs.4,000, more on publishing reports and 
papers in the interests of our work. 

Our contributions to other christian work and causes 
has amounted to nearly Rs. 13, 000. It will be noted that of 
about Rs. 2 2 8, 000, expended in the maintenance of the mis- 
sion and the securing of mission property something over 
one-fourth has been the result of our efforts at self-help. 
Over Rs. 7 0,000 has been put into property. Thus of the 
Rs. 1 58, 000 that our mission has cost us for the support of 
missionary workers, orphans and all other kinds of work 
Rs. 64, 000 or two-fifths of the whole have been earned by us 
in India. We have but little of orphan work now on hand. 
In the fifteen years we have spent about Rs. 20,000 on Eu- 
rasian orphans. In all we have had twenty-five different 



OUR WORK. 293 

boys and girls. Before the native orphan work became 
self- supporting we spent upon it about Rs. 18,000. 

Our mission has given India about sixty years of individ- 
ual missionary service i. e., our staff has been four male 
and female missionaries, all through on an average. 

In Kind, many dear friends in India have put us under 
deep obligations. Gifts of this sort would probably aggre- 
gate Rs.7,500, in the history of the work. The Transit 
and Building Fund Society has spent a considerable sum 
sending us missionaries and tools and various other things 
of value to the mission. But we do not have the totals or 
the details of this help. 

This is "my story, " we have pioneered a native chris- 
tian community out of heathenism and orphanhood, and 
that at starvation's door, into a self-supporting body of 
christians, who now represent a christian community of 
nearly 150 persons, who are now actively engaged propa- 
gating the gospel that has done so much for them. We 
are located at strategetic points in a field of 30,000 square 
miles with a population of half a million. We have prop- 
erty worth Rs. 100,000, and good prospects of getting much 
more at an early day. 

We are proud (humbly) of our living epistles, and tan- 
gible acquisitions, and of our glorified dead. 

We have learned to work and pray, and pray and work, 
and with a faith that sees the "triumph" all along. We 
closer grip our Saviors' s loving hand, and press on to 
greater things, 

A dear friend has dubbed us the ' ' Faith Works Mis- 
sion. "Well, "self-support," and, " faith and work " index 
our missionary politics. 

May thousands rise to do more and better, and to Christ 
be all the glory. 

C. B. Ward. 



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OUR WORK. 295 

TABLE NO. II. 
Abstract of Accounts from July 1, 1890 to June 30, 1894. 

RECEIPTS. 

From The Transit and Building Fund Society . 7 1 , 504. 1 5 . 3 

Other Contributions 32,889. 9. 7. 

Trade and Earnings 22,267.12. 7 

Village Income 3,284. 7. 6 

No. II Orphan House 1,997.13. o 

Loans 26,405. 12. 2 

Miscellaneous 50. o. o 

Balance in hand July 1, 1890 139.15. 1 



Rs. 158,540. 5. 2 

EXPENDITURES. 

I. On Mission Property Yellandu 23,474.12. o 

Village Reconstruction 28,468. 4. 2 

Orphan House No. II 2,067.11. 8 

Stock 1, 142. 14. o 

Loans Made 1,162. 8.10 

Miscellaneous 94. 5. o 

Books and Printing 1,482.12. 5 

Jagdalpur Property 16, 146. 14. ; 

Sironcha Property 259. 8. o 

Bastar Towns, '92, '93 and '94 2,292. 1. 6 



Capital Outlay, Rs. 76,592. 3. « 

II. On Food Supplies 10,976.14. 4 

Clothing and Furniture 4,901. j^. < 

Servants 3,989.7 t 

Books and Printing I ,397- I 3- 3 

Traveling Expenses 1,016. 7.11 

Parcels, Post and Telegrams 390. 3. 1 

Medicines 904. 9. 10 

The Lord 2,712.15. 1 

Children's Schooling J ,203. 1. 2 



296 OUR WORK. 

Five Months in Bangalore • . . . . 1,132. 7. 6 

M. F. S 862. 9.6 



Mission Maintainance, Rs. 29,488. 7. 8 

III. On Trade and Productive Work, Rs. 26,270. 5.10 

IV. On Loans Rs. 22,005.11.10 



Total Expenditures, Rs. 154,356.12. 6 

SUMMARY. 

Grand Total Receipts Rs. 158.540. 5. 2 

Grand Total Expenditure Rs. 154,356.12. 6 



Balance in Hand, Rs. 4,183. 8. 8 
TABLE NO. III. 

MISSION PROPERTY IN INDIA. 

Yellandu Mission House, grounds and houses, 

etc Rs. 19,000. o. o 

One School Chapel Rs. 3,000. o. o 

Orphan Houses and grounds Rs. 6,000. o. o 

Work Shop and Tool Plant Rs. 2, 500. o. o 

Todalagudum Village 3,000 acres and im- 
provements Rs. 40,000. o. o 

Frazerpur Village 1,300 acres at Jagdal- 



pur, 



Rs. 10,000. o. o 



Jagdalpur Buildings and material Rs. 9,000. o. o 

Jagdalpur Medical Stock Rs. 1,500. o. o 

Jagdalpur Live Stock Rs. 1,000. o. o 

Mokpal Property 70 acres of land and 

Buildings Rs. 1,000. o. o 

Sironcha Property, 9 acres Rs. 1,000. o. o 

Autagarh Property, 52 acres Rs. 1,000. o. o 

Total Value of Real Estate, Rs. 95,000. o. o 



OUR WORK. 297 

MENU OF CURRENT ASSETS AT YELLANDU. 

31 Candies of Rice unhusked 775. o. o 

6 " " Tamorind 150. o. o 

2 " " Saffron 100. o. o 

1,000 eft. of Building Timber 1,000. o. o 

Recoverable Loans 1 ,3^°- °- ° 

Advances on Trade Account 654. o. 8 

Stock i,75°- °. ° 

Total, Rs. 5,789. o. 



OUR WORK, 



•BY- 



C. B. WARD. 



EIGHTEEN YEARS A METHODIST MISSIONARY IN INDIA 



'Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." — I Sam 7 , iz. 



CHICAGO: 

E. J. DECKER COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 
1894. 



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